The body of the late struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni has arrived at his Dube home in Soweto, Gauteng.
The 95-year-old veteran, who was the last surviving Rivonia Trialist, died at the 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria last week, after complaining about having abdominal pain.
ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile officiated the draping of the coffin with ANC colours together with representatives of MKMVA in honour of Mlangeni as one of the founding members of UMkhonto Wesizwe.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a Special Official Funeral Category One for the struggle veteran who died last week Tuesday at the age of 95, following an abdominal complaint.
His funeral service will be held tomorrow, at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus starting from nine in the morning. This will be followed by a burial ceremony at Roodepoort Cemetery.
His body will lie in state overnight at his home.
In the video below, the struggle stalwart’s body arrives at his home:
‘Root out corruption’
Speaking outside Mlangeni’s home, ANC National Executive Committee member Fikile Mbalula said the governing party needs to live up to its promises and step up efforts to root out corruption.
A number of supporters and ANC officials were gathering at Mlangeni’s home as the stalwart’s body arrived.
Mbalula says the ANC needs to kill the perception that the party has turned a blind eye to corruption.
“We can’t live with perception that the ANC is ambiguous and oblivious to corruption. People are dying now with COVID. The people have given us their trust. We have to respond and obviously when we respond we’ve got to be responsible let’s deal with issues as in a way the present themselves, deal with them with integrity, decisiveness. People can have faith in our institutions in our government,” he said.
In the video below, ANC briefs the media as Mlangeni’s body arrives at his home:
Mlangeni was one of the ANC’s first MK members to be trained in communist China and to meet “Chairman Mao” in 1962. Back home, Mlangeni disguised himself as a priest to recruit others into the armed struggle and became known as “Robot”.
In mid-1964, Mlangeni and seven other Rivonia trialists – including Denis Goldberg, Ahmed “Kathy” Kathrada, Nelson Mandela, Raymond Mhlaba and Elias Motsoaledi – were convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government.
For that, Mlangeni was jailed for over 26 years. He only tasted freedom again at the age of 64 in late 1989.
Bab’ Mlangeni was awarded Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe – the highest honour by ANC for those who have made an outstanding contribution to the liberation struggle in 1992 – & received the Presidential Order for Meritorious Service: Class 1: Gold from President Nelson Mandela in 1999.
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) July 22, 2020
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said Mlangeni’s passing “signifies the end of a generational history and places our future squarely in our hands.”
