South Africans mark Mandela’s release 20 years on

SOUTH AFRICANS yesterday celebrated the steps that sounded apartheid’s death knell 20 years ago: Nelson Mandela walking to freedom after 27 years in prison.

Thousands gathered for commemorations near Cape Town at what was known in 1990 as Victor Verster, the last prison where Mandela was held.

The crowds milled around a 10ft high bronze statue erected at the prison in 2008 depicting Mandela’s first steps as a free man.