Mandela is elected Deputy President of the ANC

At the ANC National Executive Committee’s first meeting after his release, Mandela was elected Deputy President. The appointment formalised his leadership within a movement returning from decades of exile, banning, detention and underground work. It also reinforced that his public role came through collective political structures rather than a personal settlement with the state. The Nelson Mandela Foundation dates the election to 2 March; some South African History Online chronologies place the election on 2 April, a discrepancy noted in the research report.