Struggle icon Andrew Mlangeni has died.
Mlangeni passed on a few hours after the ANC issued a statement wishing him a speedy recovery.
Mlangeni was the last remaining Rivonia trialist. During Mlageni’s political career, he sometimes had to change his name to Percy or Mokete Mokoena to evade the apartheid police.
Sunday World learnt on good authority that Mlangeni, who was admitted at One Military hospital in Pretoria, died around 1 am this morning. President Cyril Ramaphosa the passing Mlangeni signifies the end of a generational history and places our future squarely in our hands.
“With his passing as the last remaining Rivonia Trialist, Bab’ Mlangeni has indeed passed the baton to his compatriots to build the South Africa he fought to liberate and to reconstruct during our democratic dispensation,” Ramaphosa said.
Mkhulu, as Mlangeni was fondly known, had just celebrated his 95th birthday about two months ago.
Mlangeni spent 26 years at Robben Island as prisoner number 467/64 (Nelson Mandela was prisoner 466/64). Mlangeni was released in 1989.
His political party, the ANC, in a statement said his death marked an end to a revolutionary life.
“This stalwart and veteran of our liberation struggle made a huge contribution in the struggle for liberation, reconstruction and development of our nation and the renewal and rebuilding of the movement,” the governing party said.
Mlangeni’s death also comes just days after, another struggle icon and ANC veteran, Zindzi Mandela was laid to rest.
