The passing of Andrew Mekete Mlangeni signifies the end of a generational history and places our future squarely in our hands.

Until recently, we were able to sit at Bab’ Mlangeni’s feet and draw on his wealth of wisdom and his unfailing commitment – even at his very advanced age – to a better life for all South Africans.

Bab’ Mlangeni’s dramatic life was a unique example of heroism and humility inhabiting the same person and throughout his long life he remained a beacon of ethical leadership and care for humanity in our own country and around the globe.

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.

He was a champion and exemplar of the values we need to build a South Africa that provides dignity and opportunity for all and which takes its rightful place in the global community of nations.

My thoughts are with the Mlangeni Family today and with all who have had the blessing of meeting and being touched by Bab’ Mlangeni’s passion for achieving a better society as well as his passion for a life that is well-rounded, adventurous, healthy and embracing of people from all walks of life.

Robala ka kagiso, mogale wa bagale. O segatlhamela-masisi sa ntwa ya kgololosego. Re tla tswelela go ithuta gole gontsi mo go wena!

As the June and Andrew Mlangeni Foundation, we have lost a father, a comrade, an advisor, and a fountain of political wisdom. Today we pay our special tribute to the fallen giant, and extend our deepest condolences to Ntate Mlangeni’s family for their loss. The foundation as part of the family, is grateful for having learned from Ntate Mlangeni how to keep one's family together, embracing each family member with love, and above everything, keeping the vows he had made when he first met his late wife Mme June.

The Foundation became instrumental in preserving his legacy through his book, "The Backroom Boy" and a documentary which both capture his life times and legacy.

Typical of his character, Ntate Mlangeni made sure that he availed himself for many hours of interviews and reviews. There is not even a single word in that book which he did not approve of.

It is through working with him on the book, where one picked up his bravery, like how he spoke about the decision they took as the accused during the Rivonia trial, that should the sentence be capital punishment, there will be no appeal.

What a courageous giant he was. He threw his life into the armed struggle, sacrificing time with his family, and went for training in a foreign country. He was finely selected along with a handful of men, in the first group of South African anti-apartheid activists for military training in China, taught bomb-making, secret communications and insurgency.

The Robbin Island was a test of his resilience during the early years but he attributed his gained strength to the love and support of his late wife, Mme June.

Let us remember Ntate Mlangeni’s remarkable statement before he and his comrades were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for treason. “That is all I have to say…except to add what I did was not for myself but for my people.”

Nicholas Wolpe opined this morning so accurately, what the foundation is grappling with, that the passing of this great giant brings a "moral task..as to how to keep the memory of our liberation struggle alive...in order to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals, principles, beliefs, and the moral character and integrity that Ntate Andrew Mlangeni and his fellow Rivonia trialists displayed and dedicated their lives to".

As the Foundation, one of the things we have to guard jealously is to honour Ntate Mlangeni's commitment to the ideals of the Revolution and his insistence on integrity and ethical leadership. He saw those two as crucial in persuing the ideals of an equal, inclusive and a prosperous society for all.

I thank you.

WELCOMING REMARKS FOR THE ANC MEMORIAL SERVICE IN HONOR OF COMRADE ANDREW MLANGENI 

 Dearest comrades, friends and family of uBaba Andrew Mlangeni, 

We welcome the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (NEC), as well as the leadership of the ANC Women’s League, the ANC Youth League, the ANC Veterans League, and the leadership of our Alliance partners the South African Communist Party (SACP), and of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). We also warmly welcomed the Honorable Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Many of our international friends have also joined us, among them with us today are the Honorable Jerry Ekandjo (MP) from SWAPO, who was together with comrade Mlangeni a political prisoner on Robben Island. Major General Chang, the Defence Attaché of the People’s Republic of China, and Lord Jonathan Oats of the United Kingdom.  

We are gathered here with heavy hearts because one of the tallest trees among the leaders of our revolution has fallen. Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe, comrade Andrew Mlangeni, an iconic father of our nation, a heroic leader of the struggle of our people, an outstanding volunteer of our struggle, a commander of the glorious army of our people Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), is no more. Destiny is has let his beautiful heart to sleep in the glory of the immortals. 

Yet, our collective, national and international, presence is a testimony to the legacy of comrade Andrew Mlangeni. He was a selfless servant to all our people, and he worked tirelessly for the revolutionary unity among all of us, on which the successful continuation of our revolution depends. Our collective unity in mourning uBaba Mlangeni - but especially celebrating the long life that he has lived so well and with so much dedication - is the greatest tribute that we can pay to him.  

In doing so we recall a beautiful letter that comrade Mlangeni wrote explaining why he had joined the African National Congress. Speaking about himself joining the ANC as a young man he wrote: “I joined the ANC, not Dr. Moroka who was ANC President when I joined”.  He then proceeded to say: “The media finds it easier to reduce politics to personalities. We live in an era of celebrities, so politics too is reduced to personalities”. In re-affirming the critical message of the collective leadership of his generation that no individual personifies the ANC, comrade Mlangeni referred to the inclusivity of our ANC campaign slogans, while other parties always appeal to only sections of the population. He wrote the following: “Our people do not follow the ANC blindly, as they do religion. Our people support the ANC because of its track record of over hundred years of selfless struggle. But they don’t follow it blindly, the protests that some of us find so uncomfortable, should tell you that. But these protests are demands for attention, not calls to reject the ANC government”. 

With this wise counseling uBaba Mlangeni is certainly also speaking today to each one of us, as we are gathered in this Memorial Service to honor him. In fact, we can say that he has given us our future marching orders! 

We are admonished to always listen to the voices of our people. We are told that we are collectively part of an ages-long proud liberation history. However, we are warned that the support of our people is never unconditional, and their support is dependent on our servanthood to the masses of our people. 

Comrade Mlangeni throughout his life of selfless service provided us with a real-life example of how this should be done. He was never one for grandstanding. By his own admission he was a ‘back room boy’, and he was proud of it. So much so that this was also the title of ‘Back Room Boy’ that he chose for his autobiography. His life personifies the salient truth that the greatest leaders are not those who separate themselves from their people, but those who lead from among - in the midst - of their people. 

Yet, when the plight of his people called upon uBaba Mlangeni to take a stand he was not found wanting. He was never reluctant, or scarred to do so. His  courage, together with the collective courage of his generation propelled them to transform the ANC from being just a movement of petitions and deputations in to a militant revolutionary movement formed by the realities of the new conditions imposed by the racist apartheid regime. Their courage took the forms of our struggle to a higher trajectory, including the formation of the People’s Liberation Army, Umkhonto we Sizwe. 

 Today as we are faced with new, and very demanding challenges that have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the example of comrade Mlangeni’s life urges to hear the cries of despair of our people. Without hesitation we must grasp the nettle, and address the deep chasm of economic exploitation, poverty and hunger among our people that has been widened during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Following the example, and the honoring the memory, of the Rivonia trial generation we must continue with our struggle for the Resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the ANC, which amongst others demanded for the expropriation of the land without compensation, the nationalization of the Reserve bank, restructuring of the financial institutions to make capital more easily available to our people, establishment of a state bank, establishment of national health insurance (NHI), and introduction of free and compulsory education for all the people of our country. 

 We must do this with determination, and courage, and never despair. As uBaba Mlangeni, in that same letter that I have quoted from earlier, reminded us: “Thousands of young people, including children as young as Hector Peterson, died so that today we have the vote ... Despair helps no one, it is the road to defeat. It is through exercising our hard one rights that we will all help shape our own future”. 

MAY THE REVOLUTIONARY SOUL OF COMRADE ANDREW MLANGENI REST IN PEACE!

In Trenches & in Fairways

My father, my comrade, my fellow golfer and my friend. I shall not for a minute mourn your passing, for I am filled with only beautiful memories of you when I selfishly hung onto your coat tails, toddling at your feet and drinking from your endless reservoir of wisdom and experience. 

Tloks (short for Motlokwa) as Mandela, Sisulu, Kathrada and others would call you, tsamaya ka khotso, you have more than earned your rest and your peace knowing that your comradely and selfless deeds have left our country richer and better. When we met you, bab uMlangeni, it was akin to meeting all of the Rivonia trialists. We would never tire of the stories, of the history lessons and of your political insight. 

We saw you as we would see the mighty Baobab tree; a source of our protection and to many, a symbol of longevity, strength and presence! You survived, and even thrived, in the harshest of conditions and your legacy will now continue to nourish and heal generations of South Africans to come. 

I shall now dare claim that I have walked alongside a giant. 

For I walked next to you at the Constitutional Assembly to pen a Constitution for New Democratic South Africa. 

I walked with you when you delivered blankets to the old and vulnerable. 

We walked the fairways of Soweto Country Club, Augusta Country Club and Milnerton Golf Club. We laughed, we argued over golf rules, representing both the ANC and the Republic at a time when golf was not yet fashionable to most. A “bourgeois sport” they called it, we in return called them “Snuris”, a term you always reserved for lousy golf players and those who dishonoured the cause of freedom.  In the entire ANC Class of 94 in parliament, it was only you, Desmond Lockey and I, that shared a love for this game from the early days of a new South Africa.

You used your skill and knowledge of golf to reach out to a wide array of South Africans from different walks of life at golf gatherings throughout the Republic. You were well-known as one of the most accessible senior leaders of the ANC and Parliament, helping to bridge the great divide between sports and politics. 

Baba Mlangeni, Tloks, the lessons you taught me in the many hours we spent in the uneven lies of the fairways and the crucible of the trenches will remain indelible in my heart and in mind.

For all the cash you have taken from me on the grounds of the Milnerton golf course, I now say to you , see you on the next tee! May you soon tee off with Comrade Cassim Saloojee! 

I know in life (as in golf) you would have wished for a free drop without a penalty, now the Lord has granted you one. Free drop and no penalty incurred! 

Tloks,

I know you will be in good company, with Mma June, Madiba, Oom Gov, Sisulu. Your lives collectively and individually, will forever be remembered as a testament to the triumph of the human spirit, even in the darkest of days. We will all die someday, but not many can claim to have lived life so meaningfully. After all “few are the giants of the soul who actually feel that the human race is their family circle” (Freya Stark).

To paraphrase Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of (this giant)” . 

Tloks, you raise me, you raised me. Thank you.

Famba kahle Tatana wa Mina.

 

The Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Golf Association elected in 1994 consisting of golfers from different political parties. Sitting in front , Abraham Mzizi of the IFP, Club President Andrew Mlangeni , Hennie Bekker of the IFP,on the Back Row , Cde Cas Saloojee ,Ntsiki Mashimbye, Desmond Lockey and others

We are gathered here with heavy hearts because one of the tallest trees among the leaders of our revolution has fallen. Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe, comrade Andrew Mlangeni, an iconic father of our nation, a heroic leader of the struggle of our people, an outstanding volunteer of our struggle, a commander of the glorious army of our people Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), is no more. Destiny is has let his beautiful heart to sleep in the glory of the immortals. 

 

Yet, our collective, national and international, presence is a testimony to the legacy of comrade Andrew Mlangeni. He was a selfless servant to all our people, and he worked tirelessly for the revolutionary unity among all of us, on which the successful continuation of our revolution depends. Our collective unity in mourning uBaba Mlangeni - but especially celebrating the long life that he has lived so well and with so much dedication - is the greatest tribute that we can pay to him. 

 

In doing so we recall a beautiful letter that comrade Mlangeni wrote explaining why he had joined the African National Congress. Speaking about himself joining the ANC as a young man he wrote: “I joined the ANC, not Dr. Moroka who was ANC President when I joined”.  He then proceeded to say: “The media finds it easier to reduce politics to personalities. We live in an era of celebrities, so politics too is reduced to personalities”. In re-affirming the critical message of the collective leadership of his generation that no individual personifies the ANC, comrade Mlangeni referred to the inclusivity of our ANC campaign slogans, while other parties always appeal to only sections of the population. He wrote the following: “Our people do not follow the ANC blindly, as they do religion. Our people support the ANC because of its track record of over hundred years of selfless struggle. But they don’t follow it blindly, the protests that some of us find so uncomfortable, should tell you that. But these protests are demands for attention, not calls to reject the ANC government”. 

 

With this wise counseling uBaba Mlangeni is certainly also speaking today to each one of us, as we are gathered in this Memorial Service to honor him. In fact, we can say that he has given us our future marching orders! 

 

We are admonished to always listen to the voices of our people. We are told that we are collectively part of an ages-long proud liberation history. However, we are warned that the support of our people is never unconditional, and their support is dependent on our servanthood to the masses of our people. 

 

Comrade Mlangeni throughout his life of selfless service provided us with a real-life example of how this should be done. He was never one for grandstanding. By his own admission he was a ‘back room boy’, and he was proud of it. So much so that this was also the title of ‘Back Room Boy’ that he chose for his autobiography. His life personifies the salient truth that the greatest leaders are not those who separate themselves from their people, but those who lead from among - in the midst - of their people. 

 

Yet, when the plight of his people called upon uBaba Mlangeni to take a stand he was not found wanting. He was never reluctant, or scarred to do so. His  courage, together with the collective courage of his generation propelled them to transform the ANC from being just a movement of petitions and deputations in to a militant revolutionary movement formed by the realities of the new conditions imposed by the racist apartheid regime. Their courage took the forms of our struggle to a higher trajectory, including the formation of the People’s Liberation Army, Umkhonto we Sizwe. 

 

Today as we are faced with new, and very demanding challenges that have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the example of comrade Mlangeni’s life urges to hear the cries of despair of our people. Without hesitation we must grasp the nettle, and address the deep chasm of economic exploitation, poverty and hunger among our people that has been widened during the COVID-19 lockdown. 

Following the example, and the honoring the memory, of the Rivonia trial generation we must continue with our struggle for the Resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the ANC, which amongst others demanded for the expropriation of the land without compensation, the nationalization of the Reserve bank, restructuring of the financial institutions to make capital more easily available to our people, establishment of a state bank, establishment of national health insurance (NHI), and introduction of free and compulsory education for all the people of our country. 

We must do this with determination, and courage, and never despair. As uBaba Mlangeni, in that same letter that I have quoted from earlier, reminded us: “Thousands of young people, including children as young as Hector Peterson, died so that today we have the vote ... Despair helps no one, it is the road to defeat. It is through exercising our hard one rights that we will all help shape our own future”. 

MAY THE REVOLUTIONARY SOUL OF COMRADE ANDREW MLANGENI REST IN PEACE!