Mabuza pays tribute to Solomon Mahlangu, marks 39th anniversary

“My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight.”

These were the last words uttered by uMkhonto weSizwe soldier Solomon Mahlangu, as he made his way to the gallows where he was hanged by the apartheid government on April 6 1979, at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria. It was known back then as the Pretoria Central Prison.

Mahlangu was tried and convicted of two murders and three counts under the Terrorism Act, after being arrested in 1977 upon his return from Mozambique and Angola where he underwent training to assist in the student protests at the time.

Deputy President David Mabuza visited the centre today to pay tribute to Mahlangu and to mark the 39th anniversary of his execution.

Deputy President David Mabuza at the chapel used by families after the execution. Families were not allowed to see the bodies following the execution. Picture: Twitter/@GovernmentZA

“Our profound sadness over his violent murder at this very place on the dawn of April 6 39 years ago is amplified by the sad passing of yet another who risked everything so that we could live under conditions of freedom. I refer here to Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela who departed last Sunday,” Mabuza said.

To honour Madikizela-Mandela’s passing, Mabuza called for a moments silence before he continued.

Mabuza referred to the execution of political prisoners as being part of the National Party’s strategy, who sought to defend and “keep the evil system of apartheid alive”.

“For this reason, today’s commemoration is in honour not only of Solomon Mahlangu but all those who perished in apartheid gallows as part of the vast army of combatants in the struggle for freedom, the midwives who delivered the democratic dispensation our country enjoys today,” the deputy president said.

“This commemorative event is a response to the constitutional injunction to ‘recognise the injustices of our past and to ‘establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights’.”

Mabuza said that today’s commemoration marked a firm commitment that “government has a moral responsibility to provide physical and material security to the citizenry and an affirmation that it shall never again appropriate to itself the right to determine who will live and who shall die.”

Mabuza, along with family members of the late Mahlangu, was taken for a tour through the gallows, where political prisoners were hanged. A sombre mood hung in the air as the group took in the sight of the ropes which hung from the ceilings.

Members of the Mahlangu family and ANC NEC officials at the Pretoria Prison gallows. Picture: Twitter

After the walkabout, Mabuza said that Mahlangu’s death “was not in vain”.

Mabuza said that today’s commemoration event affirmed South Africa’s commitment towards embodying qualities such as social justice, Ubuntu, human rights, non-racialism and gender equality, “which Mahlangu and his comrades in arms came to internalise at an early stage of their formative years”.

Mabuza also spoke about the “Mandela generation” which fought for a free South Africa, and the Mahlangu generation”, which formed part of the liberation process.

He said that Mandela “unequivocally made known his preparedness to die to the regime during the Rivonia Trial”.

To this end, Mahlangu boldly called on South Africans, 15 years later, as he went to the gallows, to continue the fight.

	Avantika Seeth Multimedia journalist City Press p: +27 11 713 9001 w: www.citypress.co.za  e: avantika.seeth@citypress.co.za
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