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"The Separation" BOOK EXCERPT From Chapter 109 of Mandela's

autobiography Long Walk to Freedom

On April 13, 1992, at a press conference in Johannesburg, flanked by my two oldest friends and

comrades, Walter and Oliver, I announced my separation from my wife. The situation had grown sodifficult that I felt that it was in the best interests of all concerned - the ANC, the family, and Winnie -that we part. Although I discussed the matter with the ANC, the separation itself was made for

personal reasons.

I read the following statement:

"The relationship between myself and my wife, Comrade Nomzamo Winnie Mandela, has becomethe subject of much media speculation. I am issuing this statement to clarify the position and in the

hope that it will bring an end to further conjecture.

Comrade Nomzamo and myself contracted our marriage at a critical time in the struggle forliberation in our country. Owing to the pressures of our shared commitment to the ANC and thestruggle to end apartheid, we were unable to enjoy a normal family life. Despite these pressures our

love for each other and our devotion to our marriage grew and intensified....

During the two decades I spent on Robben Island she was an indispensable pillar of support and

comfort to myself personally.... Comrade Nomzamo accepted the onerous burden of raising ourchildren on her own ... She endured the persecutions heaped upon her by the Government with

exemplary fortitude and never wavered from her commitment to the freedom struggle. Her tenacityreinforced my personal respect, love and growing affection. It also attracted the admiration of the

world at large. My love for her remains undiminished.

However, in view of the tensions that have arisen owing to differences between ourselves on anumber of issues in recent months, we have mutually agreed that a separation would be best foreach of us. My action was not prompted by the current allegations being made against her in the

media.... Comrade Nomzamo has and can continue to rely on my unstinting support during thesetrying moments in her life.

I shall personally never regret the life Comrade Nomzamo and I tried to share together.Circumstances beyond our control however dictated it should be otherwise. I part from my wife withno recriminations. I embrace her with all the love and affection I have nursed for her inside andoutside prison from the moment I first met her. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will appreciate the

pain I have gone through."

Perhaps I was blinded to certain things because of the pain I felt for not being able to fulfil my role asa husband to my wife and a father to my children. But just as I am convinced that my wife's life whileI was in prison was more difficult than mine, my own return was also more difficult for her than it

was for me. She married a man who soon left her; that man became a myth; and then that myth

returned home and proved to be just a man after all.

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As I later said at my daughter Zindzi's wedding, it seems to be the destiny of freedom fighters tohave unstable personal lives. When your life is the struggle, as mine was, there is little room left for

family. That has always been my greatest regret, and the most painful aspect of the choice I made.

"We watched our children growing without our guidance," I said at the wedding, "and when we did

come out [of prison], my children said, 'We thought we had a father and one day he'd come back.But to our dismay, our father came back and he left us alone because he has now become the fatherof the nation.'" To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of a family is a

greater joy. But it was a joy I had far too little of.

What is the destiny according to Mandela of all freedom fighters?

What joy did Mandela have too little of?

What reasons does he give for the separation from his wife?

Find the synonym in the text

1. The fight for liberation2. To educate children 3. We have agreed together4. Difficult moments in life 5. I separate from my wife 6. I didnt see certain things 7. To carry out my role as father 8. That man became a legend9. That man showed himself to be 10. One day he would return