African National Congress (ANC), Deputy Secretary General, Comrade Jessie Duarte, and Treasurer General, Comrade Paul Mashatile, will tomorrow 6 April 2021, lead the commemoration of the life and times of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu. The commemoration will include a visit to the Kgoši Mampuru Correctional Centre in Tshwane to observe the 52 symbolic steps to the gallows as well as wreath laying at Solomon Mahlangu’s gravesite.
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, 42 years ago, this brave and fearless young soldier of the people’s army, Umkhonto we Sizwe, was hanged by the heartless apartheid regime, the youngest person (22) to be hanged for a political offense. Like many young people of his generation, Solomon skipped the country in 1976 to swell the ranks of the ANC.
Solomon 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.
The national commemoration of Solomon Mahlangu will take place as follows:
Symbolic 52 steps to the gallows, Tshwane
Date: Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Time: 06:55 am
Venue: Kgoši Mampuru 11 Correctional Centre
Wreath-laying ceremony, Tshwane
Date: Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Time: 9:00
Venue: Solomon Mahlangu Grave Site, Mamelodi West
On the same day, ANC Limpopo will also host Solomon Mahlangu commemorative activities as follows:
· Screening of the movie Kalushi at the Mall of the North at 14:00, Polokwane
· Virtual Solomon Mahlangu Memorial lecture at 15:00
· Youth Dialogue at Mogalakwena IT College at 16:30
END
ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
Enquiries:
Pule Mabe
National Spokesperson
071 623 4975
