Mandela At Sydney Opera House 1990

In his first year of freedom, Nelson Mandela visited Australia to say thanks for opposing apartheid.

Released from prison in May 1990, Mandela was still four years from becoming South Africa’s first black president. From the Sydney Opera House steps on October 24, the anti-apartheid leader addressed a crowd of 40,000,

The air of inspiration. The mixture of awe and celebration in those around me, and the choir’s rendition of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica ("God Bless Africa").

Mandela was initially so moved by the choir’s performance that he did not begin speaking. But he was soon praising the effect of sanctions in putting pressure on South Africa’s apartheid regime, which had segregated and racially discriminated against that nation’s black majority for decades.

“I can recall how we prisoners of apartheid whispered to each other about your very healthy and militant actions, about your disavowal of an all-white Springbok team from a country where your black brothers and sisters toiled under apartheid rule,” Mandela said.