Altar boy, flute player and wizard

Kgalema Motlanthe was an altar boy who wanted to become a priest, but when the Anglican Church awarded him a bursary to study in Swaziland, his application for travel documents was turned down by the apartheid government. His political interest was sparked by Father Trevor Huddleston’s book Naught for Your Comfort. While imprisoned on Robben Island, Motlanthe taught himself to play the flute and he eventually learnt to read and write music. As a youth (in the centre of picture on the left) he was also a gifted soccer player whose nickname was ‘Wizard’