Opinion by Thabo Mofokeng : I want to start my piece by quoting comrade Solomon Mahlangu in his words before he was executed, Mahlangu said: ‘My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom.

Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight.’ Today marks exactly 44 years since his execution in Pretoria, April the 6th which was deliberately chosen to coincide with the Anniversary of the arrival of Jan Van Riebeek in the Cape 1652.

Comrade Solomon was brave and pain and the brutality He faced in the jail made him not only brave but also fuelled his anger against the then regime in his words urging they must continue to fight He showed strength and hope for a better future where blacks will freed, where blacks will enjoy equal rights and their dignity be restored. Comrade Solomon wanted a free South Africa fought for a free South Africa but never lived to enjoy the fruits of the freedom.

We are the people if not the decedents of “My people” Comrade Solomon spoke of when He said “Tell my people I love them” Hi blood indeed nourished the fruits of freedom that we are today enjoying 44 years after his death, we will be failing in our duty as young revolutionaries if we do not take this moment and salute Comrade Solomon Mahlangu, a man who stood firm against apartheid brutality and torture, a man who never changed his views and beliefs for a free South Africa nor sold his own organization even when he was facing death.

I write this piece today in his honour because we are inspired by his bravery, loyalty and conscious he compromised as his youth, He could have chosen to stay in exile and never return to South Africa, He had an opportunity to live in exile a better life, He could have changed his identity forever and forget about apartheid South Africa but instead Mahlangu, Masuku, Temba Nkosi and Richard Chauke all left South Africa via Mozambique and spent six months at Xai Xai refugee camp. Later they were rescued and transported to an ANC training facility, called Engineering, in Angola.

Mahlangu was reassigned to various cells within the training camp but he eventually joined a smaller unit of 10 men under Julius Mokoena, who reported to the commander in chief, Joe Modise. Amongst the 10 were George ‘Lucky’ Mahlangu and Mondy Motloung. The unit was trained at Funda Camp; they underwent crash courses in sabotage, military combat, scouting and political education.

Today Comrade Mahlangu could have been 67 yearsold, and probably he would be leading the African National Congress and perhaps the ANC would not be the way it is today, perhaps we wouldn’t have our movement been infiltrated and populated by thugs, criminals, corrupt power mongers who mascaraed as cadres and revolutionaries but have no love nor respect for our people. Comrade Solomon Mahlangu would have stood firm against black on black violence, political killings, corruption, and most importantly I think He would have fought better to ensure that the ANC completes its second transition for economic freedom in our life time.

Today we remember you comrade Solomon because as young people we are on our own and those who tried to wage a struggle for young people were silenced harshly, killed, isolated and some were expelled from the people’s organization, as we remember you comrade Solomon we want to draw strength not give up on the ANC but most importantly we want to draw strength to be loyal to the people and to our organization, we want to draw strength to be brave and selfless as you were.

Continue to rest but may your soul and spirit continue to live on and on, comrade Solomon please tell Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Albert Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, and many others who left before you that our ANC is no longer the same, our people are suffering in the hands of the liberation movement, our leaders are richer than the ANC itself and our people are getting poorer and poorer, Comrade Solomon the ideals our forefathers died fighting for today have been forgotten the ANC share table today with our former oppressors and ANC listens to the oppressors more than it listens to its own people…

Comrade Solomon they took oath that  ANC that and declare that they will abide by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution, the Freedom Charter and other duly adopted policy positions, that they are joining the Organisation voluntarily and without motives of material advantage or personal gain, that they agree to respect the Constitution and the structures and to work as a loyal member of the Organisation, that they will place their energies and skills at the disposal of the Organisation and carry out tasks given to me, that theywill work towards making the ANC an even more effective instrument of liberation in the hands of the people, and that they will defend the unity and integrity of the Organisation and its principles, and combat any tendency towards disruption and factionalism”

In the history of the ANC factionalism has never been this rife, unless the history books misled us the ANC leaders has never hated on each other this way, some argues that it’s because the ANC never was exposed to much resources, but fact remains that the ANC has never been this far from our people even beyond 1994 the ANC has never been rejected by the people they way it is now.

The ANC that enjoyed the support of our people in 1994 , with more than 2 000 branches, 8 000 local councillors, 117 constituency offices, 98 regional offices and several hundreds of ANC MP’s and MPL’s. Many of these are full-time, political cadres. The ANC that enjoyed support of workers more than 20,000 COSATU shop-stewards – again, SACP, SANCO and other MDM with thousands of supporters and members

Comrade Solomon at least you knew that one day Yourblood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom Today we stand with uncertainty, we do not know what the future holds for us.

By Thabo Mofokeng

Former NEC COSAS & SASCO

Former Regional Spokesperson ANCYL Mangaung

Branch treasurer of the ANC

Ward 19

Mangaung Region

The Views Expressed Here Are Not Those of Central News .

Thabo Mofokeng . Photo Supplied

CENTRAL NEWS

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