HAMBA KAHLE SOLOMON MAHLANGU

HAMBA KAHLE SOLOMON MAHLANGU

On March 2, 1978, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was sentenced to death. He had pleaded ‘not guilty’ and as the death sentence was passed, he raised his clenched fist and shouted the ANC (African National Congress) slogan ‘Amandla’.

Since then, he has spent more than a year in a death cell at Pretoria Central Prison; he was not allowed visits other than from his family and a minister of religion appointed by the state; he was not allowed reading material from outside but was supplied with novels and a bible by the prison.

Even before the death sentence was passed, Solomon did not have a fair trial. Since his arrest in June 1977, he was severely tortured and brutally assaulted in the prisons. He was not allowed to be seen by any member of the community including his lawyers. He did not even know that he was being legally represented, and the attorneys first heard of his court appearance after reading a report about it in the press. After months of torture his friend and comrade Mondy Motloung was declared unfit to stand trial due to brain damage.

On April 6, 1979, Solomon Mahlangu was executed. He went to the gallows courageously and confidently. He was aware that the black people of South Africa – whom he loved and served – were behind him and indeed the whole of progressive humanity supported him.

Solomon was murdered but his spirit – like that of Mini, Khayinga, Mkhaba and others – is not dead. His blood will nourish the seeds of freedom which are germinating throughout the country. The ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, was sworn that Solomon Mahlangu shall be avenged and those who had taken his young life were to one day have to answer for the innumerable crimes and irreparable damage they had caused.

The ANC and its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, swore that “during this Year of the Spear we pledge to sharpen our spears to that we can meet the enemy on equal terms”.

Source:
Editorial, “Hamba Kahle Solomon Mahlangu”, Sechaba, June 1979.

Castro Khwela
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