During the time of the 14th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture\ndelivered by Bill Gates in 2016 at the University of Pretoria\u2019s Mamelodi\ncampus, the Nelson Mandela Foundation paid a visit to families who lost loved\nones during Apartheid, loved ones whose remains have yet to be found. Some of\nwhom are called \u2018the Mamelodi 10\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of the Mamelodi 10 is a devastating one. On the 26th of\nJune, 1986, 10 teenagers were rounded up in a joint operation by members of the\npolice’s Northern and Western Transvaal Security Branch as well as the South\nAfrican Defence Force\u2019s Special Forces. Joe Mamasela, an askari of the joint\noperation, drove a minibus through Mamelodi, making out to the teenagers as\nthough he was a member of uMkhonto weSizwe, collecting recruits into exile.\nInstead, Mamasela drove the boys into the bushes near Zeerust where the rest of\nthe joint operation was waiting. They made the boys lie on the ground and\ninjected them with an unknown substance that sent them into a state of\nunconsciousness. They were then moved into a different minibus and an accident\nsite was faked as the minibus was burnt with the boys trapped alive inside. When\nlocals later found the bodies, they buried them as unidentified paupers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The families of the boys believed that the boys had gone into\nexile and that their fate was unknown. However, what had truly happened was\nrevealed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2005, the Missing\nPersons Task Team within the National Prosecuting Authority investigated the\nincident and discovered that the boys were buried at the Winterveld cemetery in\nPretoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the 2016 visit that the Foundation paid to the families,\na powerful bond was created between the families and the Foundation, a bond in\nwhich the Foundation sought to invest and nurture as the years went by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the 2nd of December 2019, the Foundation, in\ncollaboration with various stakeholders, turned its staff year-end function\ninto an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the wellbeing of the\nMamelodi families. The Soweto Gospel Choir delighted representatives of the\nfamilies with songs as they disembarked from boarded the bus into the Nelson\nMandela Centre of Memory <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The representatives were then taken on a tour of the Centre of\nMemory, interacted with Nelson Mandela\u2019s private papers and visited Madiba\u2019s\npost-presidential office. Over the course of the day, the Foundation served\nlunch to the families and handed over Christmas hampers with groceries to make\ntheir festive season truly one to remember as well as vouchers for the\nchildren\u2019s school uniform for the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe thought we were forgotten, but now I can see that we are\nremembered,\u201d shared one of the elders that the Foundation hosted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was recently reported that the last body from the Mamelodi 10\nwas found in an unmarked grave at the cemetery. This news has delighted the\nFoundation and we remain optimistic that all remains of the Mamelodi 10 yet to\nfound will be reconnected with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Sello Hatang-CEO of the Mandela Foundation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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