Matela Mantsoe, a resident of Witzieshoek Native Reserve, Harrismith District, Orange Free State (now Free State)was described by government authorities as a ‘recalcitrant native’. Mantsoe served a two-year jail sentence in Bloemfontein. He was ordered to keep away from Witzieshoek but subsequently returned.
The enforcement of a banishment order of 13 June 1951 was delayed to enable him to make representation concerning his banishment. A new banishment order was issued on 27 March 1952 and he was banished to Frenchdale Native Trust Farm, Mafeking District, in the Northern Cape (now North West Province).
Mantsoe was released from banishment in 1959 and his banishment order was revoked in 1962.
• Contribution by Professor S. Badat on Banishment, Rhodes University, 2012. From the book, Forgotten People - Political Banishment under Apartheid by Professor S. Badat.