Letlapa Mphahlele was born and grew up in rural South Africa during the height of apartheid. In 1978, at the age of seventeen he went into exile to join the liberation struggle. Rising through the ranks of the Azania People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), he became its director of operations. In 1993, following the killing of black school children, he ordered several high profile retaliatory massacres, including at the Heidelberg Tavern in Cape Town. Lyndi Fourie, a student, was amongst those killed. Her mother Ginn later forgave Letlapa. This was pivotal in both their transforming journeys.
In 2003 Howard Grace, an IofC volunteer, met Letlapa and Ginn in Caux. He invited Letlapa to the UK and took him to 36 school Sixth Forms in six weeks, as part of the Initiatives of Change Schools Service, to share his story. This later led to the making of the award-winning film ‘Beyond Forgiving’ which documents what has developed from this profound experience with Ginn Fourie.
Letlapa was later elected leader of the PAC in September 2006, a post which he held for six years. His life journey has led him to a passion to foster a shared humanity.
