‘Things Gone Horribly Wrong’ // But PW Botha was not the only difficult politician the Truth Commission had to deal with. It was clear from the beginning that the escapades of Winnie Mandela’s Football Club in Soweto in the 1980s would have to be investigated by the Truth Commission. The Truth Commission preferred an in camera hearing but a defiant Madikizela-Mandela challenged them to have the hearing in public. The two weeks of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela hearing turned out to be the most sensational event of the Truth Commission covered by most international television networks. The evidence against her appeared devastating but her only response was to deny all charges. Finally she was more or less forced into this half apology.
The MUFC was established in late 1986 when Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was instrumental in resolving an internal conflict in the Soweto Youth Congress. Youths involved in the conflict set up the football club and moved into the outbuildings of the Mandela home in Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg, ...
