ANC leaders at the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the execution of the Umkhonto weSizwe operative. Picture: Nathi Mthethwa/Twitter
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte and treasurer-general Paul Mashatile are on Tuesday leading the commemoration of the life and time of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu.
The commemoration includes a visit to the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Tshwane where Mahlangu was hanged 42 years ago by the apartheid regime.
He was an operative of the ANC military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe, and was convicted for the murder of two white civilians in Johannesburg,” the ANC said in a statement.
“The ANC salutes the militant and fearless 1976 generation for challenging the might and brutality of a vicious regime. Young people decided to occupy the foremost trenches in the struggle to defeat apartheid.
“On the 6th of April 1979, this brave and fearless young soldier of the people’s army, Umkhonto weSizwe, was hanged by the heartless apartheid regime, the youngest person, at 22, to be hanged for a political offence.
“Solomom Mahlangu continues to be an inspiration to the young lions of the 1980s and to the current generation of activists. He remains an example of sacrifice, discipline and refusal to succumb to the enemy.”
Watch live as the party commemorates his life:
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