He became one of South Africa’s first black lawyers

One of the most interesting facts about Nelson Mandela is that he became one of South Africa’s first black lawyers. Mandela began his law studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was the sole black African student. He made friends with liberal and communist European, Jewish, and Indian students, including Joe Slovo and Ruth First. Mandela, who was becoming increasingly politicized, marched in August 1943 in support of a successful bus boycott to resist fare increases. When he joined the ANC, he was increasingly inspired by Sisulu, spending time with other activists, including his old buddy Oliver Tambo, at Sisulu's Orlando home.

Mandela met Anton Lembede, an ANC member aligned with the "Africanist" faction of African nationalism, which was vehemently opposed to a racially united front against colonialism and imperialism, as well as an alliance with the communists, in 1943. Despite friendships with non-blacks and communists, Mandela supported Lembede's beliefs, thinking that black Africans should be completely self-sufficient in their battle for political self-determination. Mandela was among a delegation that approached ANC president Alfred Bitini Xuma on the subject at his home in Sophiatown, deciding on the need for a youth wing to mass-mobilise Africans in opposition to their subjugation; the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 in the Bantu Men's Social Centre, with Lembede as president and Mandela as a member of its executive committee.