The apartheid regime's Vlakplaas death squad carried out a cross border raid in Lesotho on this day in 1985. They killed about 12 people (9 ANC members) and 3 Basotho. One of the people murdered on this day 35 years ago was Mary Thabethe. Her real name was Nomkhosi Mini.

Most of us know her father, trade unionist, actor and chorister Vuyisile Mini. He was among the first to be executed for political activities in 1964. Nomkhosi was 6 when her father died.

Nomkhosi was part of the SASM (South African Student Movement) and was among a group of student activists detained and tortured in New Brighton police station after protests spread across the country in the wake of 16 June 1976. She left eye country in 77 to join MK.

In 1978 Jonas Gwangwa was among the artists that founded the Amandla Cultural Ensemble, an arts wing of the ANC. Nomkhosi joined this cohort of creatives. From around 1980. Nomkhosi's life in exile had begun in Swaziland. She then moved to Angola where she survived an SADF raid.

She then moved to Lesotho where she lived until her death on this day in 1985. According to testimonies to the TRC, the apartheid government had threatened to carry out raids ahead of the Christmas break. And of course, they followed through on many including this one.