Freedom Walk - 20 years after!

Twenty years ago the world re-known, adored and celebrated anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor-Verster Prison in Paarl, 50km from Cape Town - a free man after 27 years.

In South Africa, prominent figures took part in a commemorative walk at the prison where he spent the final months of his 27-year imprisonment. Nelson Mandela spent most of his sentence in Robben Island prison, off the coast of Cape Town, and later in Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland. The re-enactment walk went through the gates of Victor Verster prison, now known as Drakenstein prison, where a statue of Mr Mandela stands with hand upraised.

*Nelson Mandela with former wife, Winnie, 20 years ago

91-year-old Mandela did not take part in the walk but instead went to the parliament where he was cheered and giving a standing ovation. He was there to hear a speech by current President Jacob Zuma where he addressed the MPs and other dignitaries that South Africa would continue to follow the vision set forth by its first black leader. Zuma said that it was a "day to celebrate a watershed moment" that had changed South Africa. He added that Mandela united the country behind the goal of a non-sexist, non-racist, prosperous nation.

Cyril Ramaphosa, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle took part in the walk and had this to say: "We are celebrating a life that has been lived in service of our people. “Madiba (Mandela’s clan name) needed to live for the people struggling outside because without the struggle of our people, he would have never been released."

Winnie Madikizela Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife was supposed to lead the walk but it was reported that it would be too painful for her to re-enact the experience.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, another key player in the struggle against apartheid, said although the day of Mandela's release was "a day that promised the beginning of the end of indignity and much had been achieved, much more work remained to be done.”

In 1991 Nelson Mandela became the ANC's leader and was president of South Africa from 1994 until 1999 when he decided to step down - a rare occurrence among African leaders. Mandela’s house, built for him in Qunu village in his hometown, Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape - is a replica of his prison house.