Dr Nthatho Motlana passes away
Dec 1, 2008 – One of the trustees of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Dr Nthato Motlana, a businessman and close friend and physician of the Mandela family, has died.
He passed away last night at his home in Johannesburg after a long battle with cancer.
We mourn his loss, and offer our deepest condolences to and solidarity with his family and many friends at this difficult time.
Dr Motlana was one of the accused, with Mr Mandela and 18 others, in the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial. All the accused were convicted for their role in a campaign of peaceful protests against apartheid laws. It was the first time that the African National Congress and the South African Indian Congress had campaigned together. The activists were sentenced to nine months in jail with hard labour, suspended for two years.
A leading member of the Soweto community and vice-chairperson of the Black Parents’ Association during the Students’ Uprising in 1976, Dr Motlana was detained after the uprising.
He was the chairperson of the Soweto Committee of Ten which was formed to run Soweto affairs after the collapse of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council. The Committee of Ten was among the organisations banned by the apartheid government on October 19, 1977 – what became known as “Black Wednesday”.
On March 14 this year Dr Motlana joined a group of former activists at a reunion with Mr Mandela at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. They were the surviving accused with Mr Mandela in three major trials – the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial, the 1956-1961 Treason Trial and the 1963-64 Rivonia Trial.
Last year Dr Motlana received the Financial Mail’s ‘Little Black Book Lifetime Achiever Award’ in “recognition of his outstanding achievements in the business world and his community involvement.”
The award honoured him as one of the “few individuals who paved the way for black businesspeople who play in the black economic empowerment space today.”
Nelson Mandela says farewell
“The loss of our old comrade and friend, Nthato Motlana, is a hard blow. We have travelled a long road together, through many decades of the struggle against apartheid and the years of building democracy. His unfailing support for our family during the prison years is something we will never forget. We will miss him. And our country will miss him. His contributions in such a variety of fields made him a patriot of special quality.
Hamba kahle.”