Which university awarded Nelson Mandela an LLB degree in 1989?

The University of South Africa awarded Nelson Mandela an LLB degree in 1989.

Mandela studied law at the University of South Africa by correspondence while imprisoned. He had earlier attended the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Witwatersrand, but he did not complete a law degree at either institution. His legal studies continued through imprisonment, despite restrictions and interruptions.

The University of South Africa, commonly called UNISA, is a distance-learning institution. Its correspondence system allowed Mandela to work toward qualifications while he was incarcerated. He received the LLB in 1989, one year before his release from prison and during the period when discussions about South Africa’s political future were intensifying.

Mandela’s legal education shaped both his career and his political thinking. In 1952, he and Oliver Tambo established a Johannesburg law practice that became the first Black law firm in South Africa. The 1989 degree therefore marked the completion of a long, interrupted legal path rather than the beginning of his legal work.