Two batswana youngsters who dined with Mandela

Young Matsila's eyes brighten up with both surprise and pride to hear the famous African National Congress (ANC) leader speaking to him in Setswana, his mother language. Matsila, who is now reading for a Masters' Degree in Economics, was the star of the evening on the night of October 28 1990 when Nelson Mandela made his first tour of Asia shortly after he was released from Robben Island.

With his then 14-year-old sister Masego, who today is a marketing manager with a local independent newspaper, Mandela spotted them from the crowd and invited them over. Masego recalls how the two of them spent considerable time talking to the icon. "We were the only black children there; we had come to the event with our parents because my father was still working in Tokyo by then.