Ex-Bodyguard of Winnie Mandela Charged With Activist’s Murder
- Share via
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Winnie Mandela’s chief bodyguard during the imprisonment of her husband, Nelson, was charged in court Wednesday with murdering a teen-age activist.
Jerry Richardson, 41, trainer of the self-styled Mandela United Football Club, pleaded not guilty to the 1988 killing of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei, whose death caused a furor around Winnie Mandela and her entourage.
Richardson’s appearance in the Supreme Court in Johannesburg, after the case had been repeatedly postponed for over a year, coincided with the first day of exploratory talks between Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress and the government.
Winnie Mandela has said her associates removed Seipei and three other youths from a Methodist-run shelter in Soweto township in December, 1988, to protect them from sexual abuse by a white priest--an allegation rejected by the church.
The Seipei case brought controversy over the thuggish behavior of the football team to a climax, prompting prominent community leaders publicly to criticize and temporarily disown Winnie Mandela.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
