Memorial Tribute: Richard John Pelwana Maponya

​South African entrepreneur and property developer Richard Maponya has died at the age of 99 after a short illness. The Trustees and Staff of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund are truly saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Maponya.
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Richard John Pelwana Maponya rose from the impoverished rural areas of Limpopo to become one of the most respected self-made businesspeople in South Africa. Despite the humiliation of apartheid and laws forbidding entrepreneurial spirit amongst black people, he proved to be a visionary with a dream that refused to die. He has become an inspiration and an icon with black entrepreneurs. 

The relationship between Dr Maponya and Tata Nelson Mandela is one that dates to many decades. Dr Maponya is also the man who drove Tata Mandela on the historic day he was released from Victor Verster prison in Paarl, Cape Town;   and he provided the fleet of vehicles used on that special day.

Until his passing, Dr Maponya has served as a management trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, handpicked by Mr Mandela himself at the inception of the Fund in 1995.
On behalf of the Trustees and Staff at both the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, we salute Richard John Pelwana Maponya as a friend and visionary.  His legacy continues to live on through his contribution to South Africa and the work of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.