The Freedom Charter of South Africa Signed Broadside.

[LUTHULI, Albert; Leon Levy; Monty Naiker; Jimmy Laguma; Pieter Beyleveld.

$45,000.00

Item Number: 131339

Rare printed broadside of The Freedom Charter which Nelson Mandela stated “captured the hopes and dreams of the people and acted as a blueprint for the liberation struggle and the future of the nation”; signed by the five adoptive Chairmen. One page, typescript, the broadside is signed by Albert Luthuli (President of the African National Congress), Leon Levy (President of the South African Congress of Trades Unions), Dr. Monty Naiker (President of the National Indian Congress), Jimmy Laguma (President of the South African Coloured Peoples Congress), and Pieter Beyleveld (President of the South African Congress of Democrats). In near fine condition with a small loss to the lower right corner. The broadside measures 17 inches by 11.5 inches. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 25 inches by 20 inches. An exceptionally rare example of this foundational document in the struggle for freedom in South Africa.

The Freedom Charter was produced at the Congress of the People, which began at Kliptown, Soweto, on June 26, 1955. Nelson Mandela, under banning orders at the time, watched from the edges of the crowd, risking arrest and a certain jail sentence to witness this historic event. The congress was looking to adopt a "Freedom Charter," which would encapsulate the aspirations of all South Africans, regardless of race. The gathering was abruptly interrupted by a police raid on June 27th, and the Charter itself used as evidence during the treason trial of 1956, when 156 South Africans were detained and tried for treason, including all five of the signers here. The Charter and its ideals however persisted, enshrined in the platform of the ANC, even in the face of its 1960 ban, and eventually many of its key statements were incorporated into the post-apartheid South African Constitution formally adopted in January 1997. When the ANC finally came to power after democratic elections in 1994, the new Constitution of South Africa included many of the demands of the Freedom Charter. It addressed directly nearly all of the demands for equality of race and language.