OPINION: We’re at a crossroads: We can embrace all Andrew Mlangeni and his comrades stood for - or forget, writes NicholasWolpe
I woke to the devastating news on Wednesday that my dear friend and comrade Andrew Mlangeni had died at 95.
Andrew encapsulated the true meaning and essence of what the Struggle was about, to serve the people in working to realise a better life for all.As I ruminated on the curtain coming down, I soberly recalled the story of the last veteran of World War I who died in 2009 at 111.
With his passing, the raid and the trialists have now slipped into the realm of history, interpretation and reflection. The apartheid state, in sentencing Andrew and seven other Rivonia trialists to life imprisonment, was also aiming to silence them for good. After the sentencing of the eight co-accused to life in prison, Chief Albert Luthuli remarked, “for this they are sentenced to be shut away for long years in the brutal and degrading prisons”.
In honouring Andrew Mlangeni’s legacy and unwavering service to the people of South Africa during the Struggle and in building democracy we must ensure we don’t waiver. We must reaffirm our willingness and commitment to fulfil his aspirations, desires and wishes for a better life for all. “Some days before the end of the argument in court, Govan, Walter and Nelson came to an early morning consultation to tell us of a decision they had taken with regard to the sentence if it turned out to be capital punishment.
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