Was Nelson Mandela jailed for his "political beliefs?" - An extract from Bulala

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The following is an extract from Bulala: A True Story Of South Africa by Cuan Elgin :

It is a common misconception that the ANC’s leader in the 1994 elections, Nelson Mandela, had been jailed for his “political beliefs.” 

He was in fact acquitted of treason after a 4-year trial, but re-arrested a few years later, and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for launching an armed insurrection (as founder and commander-in-chief of Mkhonto weSizwe, the ANC’s militant wing). 

He was then later charged with 193 counts of terrorism: for sabotage and for trying to smuggle, prepare, or manufacture (mostly Soviet-bloc) munitions, including: 210,000 hand-grenades, 48,000 anti-personnel mines, 144 tons of ammonium-nitrate, 21.6 tons of aluminum powder, 1,500 timing devices,b and 2,000 lbs. of black gunpowder. Among his many alleged co-conspirators were 3 'white' communist: Denis Goldberg, Arthur Goldreich, and Lionel “Rusty” Bernstein. 

Nelson Mandela’s personal Makarov pistol (“for killing white policemen”) which he buried in Rivonia before his arrest during the ANC’s “armed struggle,” was never recovered. These were clearly not “trumped-up” political charges. In his eloquent closing statement to the court, Mandela candidly admitted his guilt on the charge of sabotage, adding that he was, if needs be, prepared to die for his ideals. It was apparent from the huge amount of smuggled explosives that he was not planning to die alone.

Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment; not summarily executed, as he undoubtedly would have been, in any black African country at that time, for the same offenses. Some made fanciful comparisons with the fate of plotter Guy Fawkes, who was burned at the stake for his failed attempt to blow up the British parliament in 1605. However Mandela conspired not just to bring down the government—he was planning on killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians in his quest for power.