Was Nelson Mandela a Freemason?

My first instinct was to answer about conspiracy theorist sites (who will make this claim for just about every world leader or person in power, regardless of any evidence or lack thereof) that make any claim to Mandela as a Mason.
However, I did find one little gem that did help bring a few possibilities "to light," so to speak. This post: Nelson Mandela, A Freemason, and the End of Apartheid comes from the "Masonology" blog, which is a blog kept by a Mason who goes by the handle "Livingstone" and deals with a wide variety of things, both Masonic and not, but always from a more or less Masonic perspective.
According to a thread he references on Reddit, Mandela was made a Mason "on Sight" during a visit to Georgia shortly after he had been released from prison.  He was receiving a gift from the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia and the Grand Master of the Prince Hall Lodge in North Carolina was present during the meeting, in which he must have given dispensation to make Mandela a Mason "on sight" - one of the many privileges that the Master of a Grand Lodge has.  Mandela was also given a charter to form a Prince Hall lodge in South Africa, of which he was the Worshipful Master for a time (though the blog reports that the Nelson Mandela Lodge may have since dissolved).
Being made a Mason "on sight" can have a variety of different meanings - in some areas, it means going through a one-day class and not having to take the same amount of time that is generally required of Masons to pass proficiencies, etc. over a minimum of three months.  It might also mean that Mandela was more or less made an "honorary Mason" in some form or other - it would have been up to the Grand Master's discretion as to how Mandela was officially made a Mason, but we can assume that he was at the very least given some form of each of the three degrees, obligated into those degrees, and raised to the Master Mason degree. The blog claims that his wife was also made a member of the Order of the Eastern Star at that time.

The Redditor who posted this information stated that he had been in contact with the historian for the North Carolina Prince Hall Grand Lodge and received confirmation of this account, as well as posting some pictures of documentation showing that Mandela was made a brother - most notably, this statement released by the PHGL of NC is at least partial confirmation of the event having occurred, and there is a concurrent account that can be found in Joseph Walkes' book The History of the M.W. Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina and Jurisdiction, 1864-2000 (pgs. 268-272).  Accoring to Walkes, "Mandela was made a Mason at sight by Grand Master, William C. Parker Jr,  on June 28, 1990, while Bro. Mandela and his wife Winnie were touring  the United States. Immediately after Bro. Mandela was made, M.W. Parker pursuant to his authority as Conservator of Masonry in the Jurisdiction of North Carolina, made Brother Mandela’s wife Winnie a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Further there was according to Walkes in the above book, an article in the Masonic Journal at the end of 1990 announcing the establishment of the Nelson Mandela Lodge and the Nelson Mandela Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star in Soweto, South  Africa." (I found this information through a further link in that Reddit thread - Page on tumblr.com)
Short of me contacting the Grand Lodge myself and acting to confirm all these things, this evidence gives me enough basis to state that Nelson Mandela was a Prince Hall Mason. I leave any further conclusions in the air, as there are still some Grand Lodges and jurisdictions which do not recognize Prince Hall Masons as "regular" masonic lodges.

https://www.quora.com/Was-Nelson-Mandela-a-Freemason