Anti-apartheid activist Andrew Mlangeni laid to rest

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29 July 2020 - 08:14 By TimesLIVE

Anti-apartheid activist Andrew Mlangeni will be laid to rest on Wednesday .

The 95-year-old was the last of the eight Rivonia trialists who were sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12 1964, and so modest and self-effacing he was dubbed “the quiet revolutionary”.

Mlangeni died last week after an abdominal complaint.

His death came a month after his 95th birthday celebration, which was attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa and former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe.

Mlangeni was awarded Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe in 1992, the highest honour by the ANC for those who made an outstanding contribution to the liberation struggle. He also received the Presidential Order for Meritorious Service: Class 1: Gold from former president Nelson Mandela in 1999.

Ramaphosa said the national flag would fly at half-mast from July 24 until Wednesday evening.

Mlangeni was a die-hard supporter of the armed struggle against apartheid from the beginning , but when the ANC national executive committee allowed Mandela to form uMkhonto weSizwe in June 1961, he didn’t think he stood a chance of being recruited.