|
 The Nelson Mandela Foundation, an NGO dedicated to Mandela's
memory, said that the 24-second footage was probably filmed
during the "1956 Treason Trial" which was named after the date
of the suspects' arrest but ran until 1961. It ended with the
acquittals of Mandela and his co-accused on charges of treason.
Mandela, who died in 2013 aged 95, became South Africa's first
black president in 1994. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993
for his efforts to promote reconciliation in his racially
scarred nation.
The footage shows a bearded and heavy-set Mandela wearing a grey
suit and tie and standing before a plain paneled wall.
"From the very beginning, the African National Congress set
itself the task of fighting against white supremacy," Mandela
said, referring to the movement that he went on to lead and
which has been South Africa's ruling party since the end of
apartheid in 1994.
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"We have always regarded as wrong for one racial group to dominate
another racial group. And from the very beginning the African
National Congress has fought, without hesitation, against all forms
of racial discrimination and we shall continue to do so until
freedom is achieved," Mandela said.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said the interview took place at the
Old Synagogue in Pretoria, where the Treason Trial was held and was
broadcast on January 31, 1961 by a Netherlands television
broadcaster, AVRO.
Previously, the first television interview with Mandela was thought
to have been conducted in May 1961, when he was in hiding. He would
subsequently be arrested in 1962 and was only released from prison
in 1990.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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