The foundation, which over the years has received hundreds of photographs from unidentified members of the public, has made a call for people to come forward to identify their pictures but only two people have done so.

The first series of the "Mysterious Mandela" photographs were released by the foundation on April 6, 2011.

Since then only two pictures have been identified.

"One was of Mandela with a little girl in his arms. We have traced the girl who is now in primary school.

"She will be visiting us shortly so we can get her full story," said Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesperson Sello Hatang.

The other picture is of Nelson Mandela with George Bizos and Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.

"We have released two batches of photographs and we want the public to please help us identify the remaining pictures," said Hatang.

"We are hoping that people who feature in any of the photographs will come forward with the story behind the pictures, for our archives," Hatang said.

The photographs can be seen on the website www.nelsonmandela.org, on the Nelson Mandela Facebook page and the Nelson Mandela Twitter account.

Hatang said pictures had been received from people from all walks of life.

"For instance, one man bought a secondhand book and in it he found a picture of Nelson Mandela with unidentified people. He sent it to the foundation and we have not been able to identify any of the people in the picture, which is why we are asking the public to for their assistance," said Hatang.

Tlalane Tshetlo

The New Age