Long Walk to Freedom

Mandela and Justice head for Crown Mines to get jobs, and Mandela is surprised by the dirty reality of mining. The boys are soon fired when the manager discovers that they came without Jongintaba’s permission. With nowhere to stay, they eventually find lodging with an acquaintance from the Transkei.

Mandela secures a referral from a realtor and activist named Walter Sisulu and becomes a legal secretary for Lazar Sidelsky, a liberal, white lawyer who believes in African education. To become a lawyer, Mandela must apprentice for several years and, because he left Fort Hare early, complete his bachelor’s by correspondence. Sidelsky encourages Mandela to be a model citizen by becoming an educated attorney and avoiding politics.

The only other African employee is Gaur Radebe, a proud and strong-willed man known as a “troublemaker” who refuses to show deference to white people. Mandela soon learns that Gaur is a member of both the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). From Gaur, Mandela learns that when it comes to leadership, a degree is worthless unless one goes “out into the community to prove oneself” (73).

Another clerk, a young white man named Nat Bregman, begins introducing Mandela to the foundational concepts of communism.