Correctional Services Deputy Minister and African National Congress (ANC) veteran, Thabang Makwetla, has challenged the youth to emulate ANC anti-apartheid activist Solomon Mahlangu‘s courage when confronting challenges in the country.
He was speaking at the unveiling on Mahlangu’s revamped grave-site in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, on Tuesday. The event also coincided with Mahlangu’s 62nd birthday.
Mahlangu who trained as an Umkhonto weSizwe soldier in Mozambique and Angola, was hanged on April 6, 1979 for a crime he did not commit.
Makwetla says despite being confronted by death, Mahlangu refused to betray the liberation struggle in exchange for his freedom.
“Have in you the ability to concern yourself with the needs of others and even be prepared to sacrifice and get other people’s conditions to be better. When everybody speaks about tenders and positions, all of the things that make our lives comfortable and better if you on an individual level display the ability to show the way, to say as young people of this country we can actually put aside our own interests and put our country first. We will have heroes in times of peace.”
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