Nelson Mandela grew up on the wrong end of South Africa's policy of apartheid. He early on was a fan of Mahatma Gandhi, and was sure the non-violent approach was the right one, but this just got him arrested for treason. He escaped conviction in that early trial and soon decided that armed insurrection was the path.
His non-violent past led him to believe that the ANC (African National Congress) could bomb government offices without bloodshed, which later proved to be a pipe dream. He was labelled a terrorist, but who wouldn't be under those circumstances. A wing of the ANC was being trained by Ethiopians and a Colonel gave him a pistol, now beleived to be the first weapon acquired by the ANC. Mr. Mandela buried that gun on a farm outside Johannisburg just before he was arrested in 1962 and put away for life, but from which he was released in 1990, and later became President of South Africa.
A house on that farm is now up for sale according to a story in the Telegraph. The bids are going up on the belief that the gun is buried on the property somewhere, a story being pushed by the auctioneers. Mr. Mandela himself would like to see the gun again, and has asked if it had been found. The old Makarov is said to be worth £1.8m.
