Timeline Thursday 31 January 1985

Events on Thursday 31 January 1985 1

• 1985 Nelson Mandela rejects conditional release Imprisoned ANC leader refuses to renounce armed struggle South African President P. W. Botha offered to release imprisoned anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela on 31 January 1985 if he renounced violence as a political tool. Mandela refused the condition, and his daughter Zindzi read his defiant response to a rally in Soweto. The episode strengthened his standing as a symbol of resistance to apartheid.