BuaNews (Tshwane)
Nthambeleni Gabara
1 December 2008
Johannesburg — Former President Nelson Mandel has sent condolences to the family of Dr Nthato Motlana, one of the trustees of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, who died on Sunday night after a long battle with cancer.
"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," Madiba said on Monday.
According to the foundation, Dr Motlana was also a well known businessman and close friend and physician of the Mandela family.
He was also 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 (ANC) and the South African Indian Congress had campaigned together.
"They were sentenced to nine months in jail with hard labour suspended for two years. A leading member of the Soweto community and vice-chair of the Black Parents' Association during the Students Uprising in 1976, the late was detained after the uprising," the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.
Dr Motlana, the Foundation said, was also 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 19 October 1977 on what became known as "Black Wednesday"
On 14 March 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 of major trials - the 1952 Defiance Campaign Trial, the 1956-1961 Treason Trial and the 1963-4 Rivonia Trial.
According to the Foundation last year, he was awarded the Financial Mail's 'Little Black Book Lifetime Achiever Award' in "recognition of his outstanding achievements in the business world and his community involvement."
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