News
Passports tell a story
March 4, 2008 – In June 1961, on the instructions of the ANC, Nelson Mandela went underground and spent many months hiding out in different locations, including Liliesleaf farm in Rivonia, north of Johannesburg – on the pretext of being a ”houseboy” or caretaker. “I had taken the name of David Motsamayi, the name of one of my former clients,” he wrote in Long Walk to Freedom.
Nelson Mandela corrects identity of woman in photograph
Feb 27, 2008 – Nelson Mandela has rectified an identification error in two photographs taken by the late Eli Weinberg.
The photographs show Mr Mandela sitting with a young woman, who had been mistakenly identified in several books as his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase. The woman is in fact Batshaka Cele, a relative of Mr Mandela’s second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Mandela’s early days in Johannesburg
Jan 31, 2008 – Mr Nelson Mandela has identified the person in a picture found by chance – recalling a tale of a hidden gun.
On pages 77 and 78 of Long Walk to Freedom (Abacus, London, 1994) Mr Mandela recounts this story:
“I prevailed upon a fellow named Bikitsha, whom I knew from home, to help me carry the suitcase to the front gate [of Crown Mines]. A watchman at the gate stopped us both and said he needed to search the bag. Bikitsha protested, asserting that there was no contraband in the suitcase …
Trip to Tanzania yields useful records
Jan 15, 2008 – Ms Zanele Riba, an archivist at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, travelled to Tanzania in late 2007 to look for material on Mr Nelson Mandela in that country.
‘Deepest fear’ quote not Mr Mandela’s
Nov 9, 2007 – Mr Nelson Mandela is an often quoted individual; his inspirational words are often referred to in numerous publications, television and radio broadcasts, and online. However, a quote commonly attributed to Mr Mandela was in fact never uttered by him.
A clearer picture
Nov 7, 2007 – This photograph of Mr Nelson Mandela has been published many times but it is only now that information about it has become available.