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When A Dream Comes True 

When A Dream Comes True 

DURING the famous Rivonia Trial of 1963 and 64 our first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela eloquently verbalized his dream for a post-apartheid South Africa. In it, he made it clear that he was willing to fight, and if necessary, die for the ideal of non-racial South Africa, free of any prejudices. That was his dream. Standing on the shoulders of hundreds of selfless struggle heroes, he achieved that ideal thirty years later, in 1994. His example has galvanized many people across the world towards the achievement of their goals. In the very recent past, we saw a young man…
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A great tree has fallen …

A great tree has fallen …

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA THERE are very few in our society of whom it can be said that they inspired an entire generation to follow in their footsteps. It is not many who are of such distinguished reputation that they are known simply by their first name, not just in their own social circle but to the entire country. It is only the rarest of individuals upon whom the title ‘champion of the oppressed’ is bestowed. George Bizos was such a man. A great tree has fallen.  A tree that gave shade to the patriots that founded our great nation and sheltered…
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Renew the ANC in honour of liberation hero – Mbeki

Renew the ANC in honour of liberation hero – Mbeki

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER FORMER South African president Thabo Mbeki has made a passionate plea for the renewal of the ANC as a tribute to the political stalwart and hero Andrew Mlangeni, who was buried today. In a virtual tribute delivered to mourners at Mlangeni’s funeral, held in Soweto, Mbeki supported the calls for a consultative conference to deal with the challenges facing the ANC and to assist the party to grapple with its role as a governing party. Mlangeni, who passed away a week ago after a short illness, was buried at the Roodepoort Cemetery in Soweto, following a dignified…
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Down memory lane with the departure of the backroom boy, Bab’ Umlangeni

Down memory lane with the departure of the backroom boy, Bab’ Umlangeni

KHULU MBATHA FLASHBACK: We met acting president-general of the ANC, Oliver R Tambo, for the first time in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in 1976. We, fresh from South Africa, still carrying scratches and cuts on our bodies all sustained during the stone-throwing confrontations with policemen and armed SADF personnel.  Seating underneath the shade of a big Kigelia, the sausage tree, the new arrivals were making a meal out of Tambo’s presence and bombarding him with so many questions about the struggle. What have you been doing in the past [since the banning of the organisation] 16 years? Where was the ANC when…
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Andrew Mlangeni 1925-2020: South Africa loses the last of the Rivonia triallists

Andrew Mlangeni 1925-2020: South Africa loses the last of the Rivonia triallists

KEITH GOTTSCHALK, Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape ANTI-apartheid struggle hero Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, who died this week at the age of 95, was the last surviving of the eight African National Congress (ANC) activists who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Rivonia trial in the 1960s. Mlangeni spent 20 of his 26 years in jail on Robben Island alongside fellow triallist Nelson Mandela and other luminaries of the ANC. He symbolised the generations who had joined the ANC during the most dangerous period of resistance to apartheid. No rewards, but only vindictive persecution, including detention and…
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Special funeral for South African liberation hero

Special funeral for South African liberation hero

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER  SOUTH Africa has conferred its highest honor for Andrew Mlangeni, the 95-year-old political hero who passed away this week. The South African government has declared the highest class of an official funeral for the stalwart, who was a co-accused with the iconic Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Treason Trial during which they were convicted and sentenced to life. He was the last remaining Rivonia trialist. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the declaration of a special funeral: category 1 for Mlangeni, who turned 95 in last month, was a mark of respect. “Bab’ Mlangeni was awarded Isithwalandwe/Seaparankwe…
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Mbeki’s tribute to Mlangeni

Mbeki’s tribute to Mlangeni

"NEWS that Andrew Mlangeni had passed away has been received with genuine grief and sadness by many people in South Africa. Ntate Mlangeni, born June 6 1925 in Bethlehem, Free State, and passed away after a short illness on July 21  2020.   Mlangeni came from a farm labourer family who were evicted while he was of a tender age. That is what brought him and his widowed mother to Johannesburg in search of work. From those humble beginnings was born and nurtured one who was to be driven by a passion for justice, a disdain for apartheid, and ultimately  had…
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Warm tributes for South Africa’s political hero

Warm tributes for South Africa’s political hero

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ANTI-APARTHEID struggle stalwart Andrew Mlangeni’s granddaughter has led South Africans in paying warm tributes to the political hero last who has passed on. Granddaughter Thuli Mlangeni paid a warm tribute to her grandfather. “I am in so much pain and heartache... I have lost not only my grandfather but my father and best friend.  Thank you for everything that you have done for me. I am who I am today because of you,” Thuli said. Her personal tribute stood above the political farewells that have poured in since his death was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.  Mlangeni,…
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Andrew Mlangeni in his own words…

Andrew Mlangeni in his own words…

IN honour of Andrew Mlangeni, a true South African hero, leader, grandfather, golfer and icon, the African Mirror today publishes a powerful speech he delivered two years ago when he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by Rhodes University. “My name is Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, born of farm tenants as a result of racially legislated land dispossession of the Land Act of 1913.  I was born under the farm labour tenancy system. Which means from the day I was conceived, I was destined to be a future farm worker because of the labour tenancy system. A condemnation which many farm…
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Gallery: In memory of Andrew Mlangeni

Gallery: In memory of Andrew Mlangeni

SOUTH African political stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, the last surviving Rivonia trialist,  has died.   Mlangeni, 95, passed on at the 1 Military Hospital in Thaba Tshwane, Pretoria, where he had been admitted for treatment following an abdominal pain complaint. https://youtu.be/0gFsYi7mQFEVIDEO: City of Johannesburg
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