A DOCUMENTARY film based on the life of the late South African political activist Sipho Mutsi will be screened at different universities and townships across South Africa from February 22.

Titled The Barefooted Comrade, the thought-provoking show follows the political career of Mutsi, who was born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in 1967.

Mutsi's parents took him to live at Mokhalinyana village in Lesotho, where he stayed until he could start school at Odendaalrus, in Free State. He died at the age of 17 in police custody.

Writer and director Jerry Tsie said screening the 95-minute documentary was a healing process for the Mutsi family, especially his mother Pulane Mutsi.

"The aim of screening the movie is to let people know that there are other Struggle heroes, like Sipho Mutsi, whose stories are not told," Tsie said.

"People should not watch this documentary with any expectations, but they should watch it with a very open mind to learn about the untold story of the youngest political detainee who died in policecustody." -mashiloanec@timesmedia.co.za