At which South African university did Nelson Mandela begin studying law in 1943?

Nelson Mandela began studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1943.

After leaving the University of Fort Hare without completing his degree, Mandela moved to Johannesburg and enrolled at Wits. There he studied law and encountered a politically diverse student environment, including white classmates and activists opposed to racial discrimination.

Mandela did not complete his law degree at Wits. His political work with the African National Congress, imprisonment, and later correspondence studies shaped the course of his education. He eventually qualified through the University of South Africa, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989.

The university is often confused with Fort Hare because Fort Hare was Mandela’s first higher-education institution and an important center for Black South African students. Wits, however, was the university where he began formal legal studies in Johannesburg.