Rolihlahla: Early Life and Education
How a Thembu chief's son from the rural Transkei became Nelson Mandela — the formative years that shaped his political consciousness.
A Child of the Transkei
Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in the small village of Mvezo on the banks of the Mbashe River in the Transkei, a region of rolling green hills in what is now South Africa's Eastern Cape province. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief of the Thembu people and a councillor to the Thembu king. The name Rolihlahla literally translates as 'pulling the branch of a tree' — colloquially, it means 'troublemaker.' He would not receive the name Nelson until his first day of school, when his teacher, Miss Mdingane, assigned English names to all students as was customary in the British colonial education system.
When Mandela was nine years old, his father died of lung disease. The regent of the Thembu people, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, became his guardian. Mandela moved to the Great Place at Mqhekezweni, the regent's residence, where he experienced a dramatically different world. He attended church, learned English, and observed the regent presiding over community meetings — tribal democracy in action, where every person had a voice and the chief spoke last. Decades later, Mandela would cite these meetings as his first lesson in leadership.
