A bishop who was accused by Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela of sodomising youths told her publicly yesterday he had been "profoundly hurt" by her allegations but longed for reconciliation with her.
Bishop Paul Verryn, Methodist Bishop of Johannesburg, was testifying on the third day of hearings by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission of allegations against Ms Madikizela-Mandela, linking the president of the ANC Women's League to 18 serious crimes, including murder.
Bishop Verryn was the minister in charge of the Methodist manse in Soweto in December 1989 when four people who sought shelter there - a 14-year-old boy and three young men - were abducted at the behest of Ms Madikizela-Mandela by members of the Mandela United Football Club.
Ms Madikizela-Mandela, who was convicted on a kidnapping charge in 1991 for her role in the abduction, appeared to be distressed as a sobbing Bishop Verryn told her he had been "cut to the quick" by her allegations but wanted to initiate a reconciliation "for the sake of the nation".
The TRC chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, intervened at that point to invite Ms Madikizela-Mandela to respond. Her lawyer, Mr Ismail Semenya, acting on a whispered instruction, replied that Ms Madikizela-Mandela "would want to communicate with the bishop," but not in front of the media cameras.
Earlier, the TRC heard from several witnesses that the allegations of sodomy were false. The witnesses included two of the young men who had reportedly been victims of sexual abuse at the manse, Mr Katiza Cebekhulu and Mr Thabiso Mono, as well as the woman who had first informed Ms Madikizela-Mandela of the alleged sexual misconduct, Ms Xolisa Falati.
Bishop Verryn's testimony included a moving apology to the mother of Stompie Sepei-Moekoetsi, the teenage boy who was found dead in field in Soweto on January 6th, 1989, less than a week after he had been abducted from the manse. "I did not . . . get him to a place where he could be safe," Bishop Verryn said, as he fought to take control of his emotions. "Had I acted in another way, he would be alive today."
Later Bishop Peter Storey, who had been Bishop Verryn's superior at the time of the kidnapping, told the TRC how he had been a member of the Soweto Crisis Committee which tried to secure the release of the kidnap victims.
It had been handicapped by "deep political fears" but had eventually succeeded in freeing two of the victims. By then one victim, Kenneth Kgase, had escaped while the fourth victim, Stompie, had disappeared.
The inhibiting political fears related to anxiety that Ms Madikizela-Mandela's involvement would be deeply embarrassing to the then-outlawed African National Congress, its internal allies and the liberation cause as a whole.
In a positive development for Ms Madikizela-Mandela yesterday, another witness, Mr Jabu Sithole, told the TRC he had never seen her hurt anyone. Mr Sithole is the brother of Caesar Sithole, a leader of the Mandela United Football Club who died in detention in 1990 shortly before the release of President Nelson Mandela from prison.
The hearing continues today.
The British politician, Baroness Nicholson, patron of a man who says Ms Mandela killed Stompie Seipei, yesterday said she would help bring private legal action against her. Lady Nicholson came to South Africa with her ward, Katiza Cebekhulu, so that he could testify before the commission.