2 Mandela Friends Allowed 1st Visit to Him in 26 Years

Two longtime friends of Nelson Mandela said today that prison authorities will allow them their first visit with the black leader since he was jailed nearly 26 years ago.

Yusuf and Amina Cachalia said they will have just 40 minutes for their prison-cell visit Saturday with the leader of the outlawed African National Congress.

Jailed after a 1962 conviction for incitement, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for plotting armed revolution against the white minority government.

Mandela turned 70 Monday, his 25th birthday behind bars.

Cachalia said prison authorities “out of the blue” offered them the right to visit the aging ANC leader at Cape Town’s maximum-security Pollsmoor prison.

His wife said her appeals to visit Mandela had been turned down by prison authorities for 15 years before she gave up seeking permission three years ago.