Mandela's achievements were very numerous, his most important field being politics. What amazes most people is how Mandela, a black man stuck in the tangle of apartheid in South Africa, came to achieve so much. A very established man like Mandela could have done anything in his time. For example, the struggles of apartheid took their toll in South Africa and Mandela never wavered from his dream of seeing South Africa become a democracy. He brought together a country that could have destroyed itself from within. Mandela's successes were not always unfounded. In 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and has collected more than 250 awards in total. However, courage does not exceed sacrifice. Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island, then Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison, for a total of 27 years. During this time, however, the many people influenced by Mandela lobbied for his release. Soon after his release from prison, he joined forces with the then South African President FW de Klerk and rid South Africa of the scourge called apartheid and also introduced multi-racial elections. This partnership ultimately led Mandela to a position in which he was able to change the image of South Africa to one people around the world could marvel at, president. During his very turbulent years as president, Mandela managed to recruit members from different political parties, who formed a cabinet to draw up a new constitution. Mandela was also a very prominent people's rights activist and later established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which recognized and examined past and present human rights violations. Its other policies adopted included measures to boost land reform, reduce poverty and a vast...... middle of paper ...... World Cup, they had beaten New Zealand in a fantastic finale. Mandela then presented the championship trophy to the Springbok captain. This scene was seen as an important step in the reconciliation of white and black South Africans. Mandela also oversaw the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission was therefore tasked with investigating past and present cases of human rights violations. Most of these crimes were committed by the ANC under the apartheid regime. Mandela also helped reduce the number of martyrdoms by offering individual pardons to those who confessed to crimes such as torture, rape, bombings and summonses committed under apartheid rule. . Mandela's praise of the commission was very sincere. Mandela said that "it helped us move away from the past so that we could focus on the present and the future ».”.