surrendered their lives so that we could be free , '' he said in his inauguration speech . `` Their dreams have become reality . Freedom is their reward . We are both humbled and elevated by the honor and privilege that you , the people of South Africa , have bestowed on us , as the first President of a united , democratic , non-racial and non-sexist government . '' And he kept his promise to serve but one term . Already in prison when convicted of treason in 1964 and given a life sentence , Mandela was a living symbol of the struggle against South Africa 's racist apartheid system enacted when he was 30 years old . But the African National Congress leader fought for justice long before the National Party 's 1948 election and subsequent introduction of apartheid . And in his last public words before he was whisked off to jail , Mandela spoke of his own dream . `` I have fought against white domination , and I have fought against black domination , '' he said . `` I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Nelson Mandela stepped out of South Africa 's Victor Verster prison a free man 20 years ago Thursday , he was his country 's most famous freedom fighter . Black South Africans and other opponents of apartheid lined streets to see him when he was released , cheering wildly and waving flags . He was a hero , imprisoned for 27 years for the crime of opposing a government that sought to enforce severe segregation laws with brutality . Once free , Mandela worked with South Africa 's white president , F.W. de Klerk to end those policies , knocking down the pillars of segregation one at a time . Three years after his release from prison , Mandela and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize . The African National Congress -- once again legal after being banned in 1961 -- elected Mandela as its president , and he won South Africa 's presidential election in a landslide in 1994 , the country 's first black president . `` We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and