Ryland Fisher
The passing of ANC stalwart Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, 95, on Tuesday night signals the end of an era for the ANC and, indeed, for South Africa.
Mlangeni, the last of the Rivonia Treason Trial accused, was also the last of a golden generation of ANC leaders which included greats such as Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Helen Joseph, Harold Wolpe, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba and Joe Slovo.
With his passing, the ANC might have finally lost the moral integrity that people like Mlangeni gave it.
In some ways, he was the last reminder of the ANC that fought bravely against apartheid for most of its 108 years - through the banning, detention and imprisonment of its leaders, and a long period of exile.
There are still a few old ANC leaders around, but few have been as outspoken or as high-profile as Mlangeni, who continued to play a role as an ANC stalwart and as chairman of its integrity commission. The symbolism of the passing of the Struggle icon is heavy for an organisation that prides itself on its history.
Mlangeni’s fellow Rivonia Trialist, Goldberg, passed away in April soon after the lockdown began. For three years, since the passing of Kathrada in March 2017, Mlangeni and Goldberg had been the last men standing of the eight who were sentenced to life in prison in 1964 for sabotage and furthering the aims of communism.
Mlangeni, along with Mandela, Sisulu, Mbeki, Kathrada, Motsoaledi and Mhlaba were sent to Robben Island prison to begin their life sentences. Goldberg, as the only white prisoner, was sent to Pretoria Central Prison.
Mlangeni was prisoner number 467/64 and occupied the cell next to Mandela on Robben Island.
Mandela’s prison number was the famous 466/64.
In his biography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela wrote about how, in 1963, when he had already been on Robben Island for a while after being arrested in Natal, he saw Mlangeni in a courtyard at Pretoria local prison, where Mandela had been moved in anticipation of the Rivonia Trial.
It was the first time, Mandela wrote, that he suspected that something was seriously wrong. Over the next few weeks, he would learn of the arrest of the Rivonia leadership.
The State’s evidence against Mlangeni in the Rivonia Trial included that he and Motsoaledi were responsible for recruiting members for uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC. Mlangeni had, according to evidence in court, carried messages and instructions for MK and had disguised himself as a priest while doing this work.
Mlangeni told the court that he was assaulted in prison and subjected to electric shock treatment. Mandela reflected in Long Walk to Freedom that the life sentence meted out to Mlangeni, Motsoaledi and Kathrada had been particularly harsh.
“I had expected him (Judge Quartus de Wet) to discharge Kathy, and to give Elias and Andrew lighter sentences. The latter two were comparatively junior members of MK, and the combined offences of the three of them could hardly be compared with those of the rest of us. But by not appealing, we undoubtedly cost Kathy, Andrew and Elias: an appeals court might have cut down their sentences.”
With the last of the Rivonia Trialists, Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni, at Goldberg’s last birthday party before he passed away.
In separate discussions I had with Kathrada and Mlangeni in later years, they both said that they had no regrets and had been prepared to serve the maximum sentence with their comrades. In fact, they thought they would be given the death sentence and were surprised when they were sentenced to life in prison. This view was echoed in my discussions with Goldberg.
Mlangeni, along with Mandela, Sisulu and Mhlaba were moved to Pollsmoor Prison in March 1982 after 18 years on Robben Island, in what appeared to be an attempt by the authorities to separate the ANC’s leadership from rank and file members. Kathrada joined them later.
Mlangeni was released in October 1989, along with Sisulu, Mhlaba, Kathrada, Motsoaledi, Jeff Masemola, Wilton Mkwayi and Oscar Mpetha.
Mlangeni became a back-bencher in Parliament for 10 years after 1994, which was probably in line with his style of never having leadership ambitions. He received the ANC’s highest honour, the Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe award in 1992.
Mlangeni was born on June 6, 1925 on a farm in the Free State. He was the ninth of 12 children and part of the second set of twins in the family. After his father died when he was 10 years old, the family had to move from the farm to the township in Bethlehem where he began to work as a caddy on the local golf course to help sustain his family.
This was the beginning of a lifelong association with golf and it is a game that he continued to play into his old age. I was honoured to play alongside him a few years ago and he put the rest of our four-ball to shame.
He joined the Communist Party and the ANC Youth League while he was still at school in 1951, before joining the ANC a few years later. In his authorised biography, The Backroom Boy: Andrew Mlangeni’s Story, author Mandla Mathebula wrote about how, in 1962, Mlangeni was among the first six MK members to receive military training in China, where they met Mao Zedong, or Chairman Mao as he was known, who was then chairman of the Communist Party of China.
I shared a birthday with Mlangeni, but my last interaction with him was at the birthday party last year for Goldberg and it was clear from their interaction that they had huge respect for each other.
As we reflect on Mlangeni’s life, it is difficult not to interpret his death as the beginning of a new period in the history of South Africa and the ANC.
It could be the signal to those who always wanted to corrupt our country and the ANC to take their efforts to a new level because they are no longer impeded by the high standards set by people such as Mlangeni.
For once, I really wish I am wrong.
(First published as a Thinking Allowed column in the Weekend Argus on Saturday, 25 July 2020)
