Nelson Mandela

=== Arriving in Johannesburg: 1941–1943 ===
Returning to Mqhekezweni in December 1940, Mandela found that Jongintaba had [[arranged marriage]]s for him and Justice; dismayed, they fled to [[Johannesburg]] via [[Queenstown, Eastern Cape|Queenstown]], arriving in April 1941.{{sfnm|1a1=Benson|1y=1986|1p=21|2a1=Mandela|2y=1994|2pp=73–76|3a1=Lodge|3y=2006|3p=12|4a1=Smith|4y=2010|4pp=36–39|5a1=Meredith|5y=2010|5pp=20–22|6a1=Sampson|6y=2011|6pp=27–28}} Mandela found work as a night watchman at Crown Mines, his "first sight of South African capitalism in action", but was fired when the ''induna'' (headman) discovered that he was a runaway.{{sfnm|1a1=Benson|1y=1986|1p=23|2a1=Meer|2y=1988|2pp=25–26|3a1=Mandela|3y=1994|3pp=89–94|4a1=Lodge|4y=2006|4pp=12–13|5a1=Smith|5y=2010|5p=40|6a1=Meredith|6y=2010|6pp=27–28|7a1=Sampson|7y=2011|7pp=29–30}} He stayed with a cousin in George Goch Township, who introduced Mandela to realtor and ANC activist [[Walter Sisulu]]. The latter secured Mandela a job as an [[articled clerk]] at the law firm of Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman, a company run by Lazar Sidelsky, a liberal Jew sympathetic to the ANC's cause.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=96–101|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2pp=13, 19–21|3a1=Smith|3y=2010|3p=41|4a1=Meredith|4y=2010|4pp=28–30|5a1=Sampson|5y=2011|5pp=30–31}} At the firm, Mandela befriended Gaur Radebe—a Hlubi member of the ANC and [[South African Communist Party|Communist Party]]—and Nat Bregman, a Jewish [[communism|communist]] who became his first white friend.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=104–105|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2pp=22, 31–32|3a1=Smith|3y=2010|3pp=43, 48|4a1=Meredith|4y=2010|4pp=31–32|5a1=Sampson|5y=2011|5pp=32–33}} Mandela attended Communist Party gatherings, where he was impressed that [[White South Africans|Europeans]], [[Bantu peoples|Africans]], [[Asian South Africans|Indians]], and [[Coloured]]s mixed as equals. He later stated that he did not join the party because its [[atheism]] conflicted with his Christian faith, and because he saw the South African struggle as being racially based rather than as [[class conflict|class warfare]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1p=106|2a1=Smith|2y=2010|2pp=48–49}} To continue his higher education, Mandela signed up to a [[University of South Africa]] correspondence course, working on his bachelor's degree at night.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1p=100|2a1=Smith|2y=2010|2p=44|3a1=Meredith|3y=2010|3p=33|4a1=Sampson|4y=2011|4p=34}}

Earning a small wage, Mandela rented a room in the house of the Xhoma family in the [[Alexandra, Gauteng|Alexandra]] township; despite being rife with poverty, crime and pollution, Alexandra always remained a special place for him.{{sfnm|1a1=Benson|1y=1986|1p=23|2a1=Meer|2y=1988|2p=26|3a1=Mandela|3y=1994|3pp=99, 108–110|4a1=Smith|4y=2010|4pp=44–45|5a1=Meredith|5y=2010|5p=33|6a1=Sampson|6y=2011|6p=33}} Although embarrassed by his poverty, he briefly dated a [[Swazi people|Swazi]] woman before unsuccessfully courting his landlord's daughter.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=113–116|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2p=23|3a1=Smith|3y=2010|3pp=45–46|4a1=Sampson|4y=2011|4p=33}} To save money and be closer to downtown Johannesburg, Mandela moved into the compound of the [[Witwatersrand Native Labour Association]], living among miners of various tribes; as the compound was visited by various chiefs, he once met the [[Regent|Queen Regent]] of [[Basutoland]].{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=118–119|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2p=24|3a1=Meredith|3y=2010|3p=33|4a1=Sampson|4y=2011|4p=34}} In late 1941, Jongintaba visited Johannesburg—there forgiving Mandela for running away—before returning to Thembuland, where he died in the winter of 1942.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=116–117, 119–120|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2p=22|3a1=Smith|3y=2010|3p=47|4a1=Meredith|4y=2010|4pp=33–34|5a1=Sampson|5y=2011|5p=33}} After he passed his BA exams in early 1943, Mandela returned to Johannesburg to follow a political path as a lawyer rather than become a privy councillor in Thembuland.{{sfnm|1a1=Mandela|1y=1994|1pp=122, 126–27|2a1=Smith|2y=2010|2p=49|3a1=Meredith|3y=2010|3p=34|4a1=Sampson|4y=2011|4p=34}}