The former head of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's Soweto entourage on Wednesday gave harrowing testimony at South Africa's truth commission of summary judgments and deadly punishment meted out by her bodyguards.
Jerry Richardson, who is serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of 14-year-old Stompie Seipei, told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: "My hands are full of blood."He said he killed Seipei and took part in several other murders at the behest of Madikizela-Mandela, 63, who has been implicated during seven days of testimony by over 20 witnesses in kidnapping, assault, torture and at least six murders.
Madikizela-Mandela, divorced by President Nelson Mandela last year on the grounds of infidelity, is seeking election later this month as deputy president of the ruling African National Congress.
She has denied all the allegations against her. She had been expected to tell her story for the first time on Wednesday, but the commission announced that she would take the stand on Thursday.
Richardson was leader of the Mandela United Football Club, which grouped Madikizela-Mandela's bodyguards at the time.
During an emotional moment, when Richardson and several members of the audience wept, he said: "I do not want to cry, but the things we did as the Mandela Football Club are horrible, they are barbaric."
Seipei's mother Joyce, who sat silently through the first seven days of testimony, broke down and wept as Richardson described two hours of torture in which the child was kicked, beaten and thrown at least seven times into the air and allowed to drop to the floor.
He said the child was so badly injured that he could not eat or walk unaided, adding: "I could see that Stompie was in very bad shape and that he was going to die anyway. My opinion was that he should just be finished off."
He said he, Madikizela-Mandela and others decided the boy should be killed to cover up the beating, but the murder was delayed when senior community leaders, including several now in top government jobs, visited to inquire about the boy's health.