Mandela United (football club)

The Mandela United Football Club was a South African controversial group associated with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in the late 1980s in Soweto. Though presented as a youth football team, the group functioned as a militant enforcement unit under Madikizela-Mandela’s influence, engaging in acts of violence, intimidation and killings of suspected police informers.

Mandela United Football Club
Formation1986
FounderWinnie Madikizela-Mandela
Dissolved1990
PurposeAnti-apartheid enforcement unit
Location
AffiliationsAfrican National Congress (ANC) (disputed)

Led by Jerry Richardson, the team became infamous for its involvement in kidnappings, assaults, and extrajudicial executions, drawing scrutiny from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) after the fall of apartheid.