James Seipei (1974 – 1 January 1989), also known as Stompie Moeketsi or Stompie Sepei, was a teenage
United Democratic Front (UDF) activist from
Parys in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
. He and three other boys were kidnapped on 29 December 1988 by members of
Winnie Mandela's bodyguards, known as the Mandela United Football Club. Moeketsi was murdered on 1 January 1989, the only one of the boys to be killed.
Activism
Moeketsi joined the street uprising against
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
in April 1985 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, together with Kenny Kgase, Pelo Mekgwe and Thabiso Mono, were kidnapped on 29 December 1988 from the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
manse in
Orlando, Soweto, the home of Methodist minister,
Paul Verryn.
Moeketsi was wrongly
accused of being a police
informer. Screams were heard as the 14-year-old Moeketsi was murdered by Jerry Vusumusi Richardson, a member of Winnie Mandela's team of bodyguards. His body was recovered on waste ground near Winnie Mandela's house on 6 January 1989.
His throat had been cut. Richardson was later convicted of the murder. He stated that Winnie Mandela had ordered him, with others, to abduct the four youths from Soweto, of whom Moeketsi was the youngest. The four were severely beaten.
Involvement of Winnie Mandela
In 1991,
Winnie Mandela was convicted of
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportati