BBC News Online looks at the landmarks in Nelson Mandela's life.
June 1999
South Africa's second all-race elections gave Nelson Mandela the chance to step down. Now in his 80s, he campaigned alongside his chosen successor, Thabo Mbeki to secure another landslide victory for the ANC.
1994
The transition of power reaches its conclusion in 1994 as Nelson Mandela is elected president. Black South Africans voted for him and the ANC in overwhelming numbers.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports
1993
Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk are joint winners of the Nobel peace prize in 1993. Their achievement was a peaceful transition to majority rule. Few had predicted anything but revolution and bloodshed when white rule finally came to an end.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports
1990
After more than 25 years in prison, Nelson Mandela walks free. As part of the negotiations for his release, the South African Government had already committed itself to the end of white rule, the end of apartheid and the country's first full democratic elections.
The BBC's James Robbins reports
1989
By 1989, with Nelson Mandela still in jail, the white government of South Africa was in crisis, desperate to free itself from the international sanctions imposed over its policy of apartheid. The Prime Minister FW de Klerk sought a meeting with Nelson Mandela to begin the negotiations to end white rule.
The BBC's James Robbins reports
1964
Captured by police after more than a year on the run, Nelson Mandela is convicted of sabotage and treason in June 1964 and sentenced to life in prison. From the dock, he spoke about his beliefs, his actions and the armed struggle. Remarkably, more than 25 years later, sound archive was unearthed of his speech to the court.
The BBC's Jackie Rowley reports
1961
In the aftermath of the events at Sharpville, the ANC began to reconsider its policy of non-violence. In 1961, Nelson Mandela spoke to the BBC about the position of blacks in South Africa, the policy of non-co-operation and the possibility of using violence.
1960
The Sharpeville massacre, in which 69 black South Africans were shot dead by police, marked a turning point for Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid. Forty years later, the victims are still remembered at each anniversary.
The BBC's Martin Turner reports
