Stompie Moeketsi
Encyclopedia
James Seipei also known as Stompie Moeketsi, was a teenage African National Congress
(ANC) activist from Parys
in South Africa
. He was kidnapped and murdered on 29 December 1988 by members of Winnie Mandela
's bodyguards, known as the Mandela United football club.
at age ten, and soon took on a leading role. He became the country's youngest political detainee when he spent his 12th birthday in jail without trial. At the age of 13 he was expelled from school.
and murdered at the age of 14. His body was found in Soweto
with his throat slit. Jerry Richardson, one of Winnie Mandela's bodyguards, was convicted of the murder. He claimed that she had ordered him to abduct four young men from Soweto
, of whom Stompie was the youngest. The four were severely beaten and Stompie's body was later recovered by the police.
and being an accessory to assault
, but her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.
This incident became a cause célèbre
for the apartheid government and opponents of the ANC, and Winnie Mandela's iconic status was dealt a heavy blow.
Appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997, she said allegations that she was involved in at least 18 human rights
abuses including eight murders were "ridiculous" and claimed that her main accuser, former comrade Katiza Cebekhulu, was a former "mental patient" and his allegations against her were "hallucinations".
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC) activist from Parys
Parys
Parys is a town situated on the banks of the Vaal River in the Free State province of South Africa. Population 43,791.In the eariy 1870's, towns in the northern Free State were situated very far apart and members of different churches had to travel great distances to participate in religious...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He was kidnapped and murdered on 29 December 1988 by members of Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is a South African politician who has held several government positions and headed the African National Congress Women's League. She is currently a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee...
's bodyguards, known as the Mandela United football club.
Activism
Moeketsi joined the street uprising against apartheid in the mid 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
at age ten, and soon took on a leading role. He became the country's youngest political detainee when he spent his 12th birthday in jail without trial. At the age of 13 he was expelled from school.
Murder
Moeketsi was kidnapped on 29 December 1988 after a school rally, accused of being a police informerInformant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
and murdered at the age of 14. His body was found in Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
with his throat slit. Jerry Richardson, one of Winnie Mandela's bodyguards, was convicted of the murder. He claimed that she had ordered him to abduct four young men from Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
, of whom Stompie was the youngest. The four were severely beaten and Stompie's body was later recovered by the police.
Involvement of Winnie Mandela
In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of kidnappingKidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and being an accessory to assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, but her six-year jail sentence was reduced to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence on appeal.
This incident became a cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
for the apartheid government and opponents of the ANC, and Winnie Mandela's iconic status was dealt a heavy blow.
Appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997, she said allegations that she was involved in at least 18 human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses including eight murders were "ridiculous" and claimed that her main accuser, former comrade Katiza Cebekhulu, was a former "mental patient" and his allegations against her were "hallucinations".