The Umkhonto We Sizwe Party (MK Party) commemorated the death of ANC operative Solomon Mahlangu in Mamelodi photos by Dimakatso Modipa
The Umkhonto We Sizwe Party (MK Party) commemorated the death of ANC operative Solomon Mahlangu in Mamelodi on Monday.
The commemoration event was held at the Solomon Mahlangu Memorial Park in Mamelodi, opposite the City of Tshwane offices in Mamelodi West known as Mini Munitoria.
“We are here in Mamelodi for the second annual Solomon Mahlangu Commemoration Lecture to be delivered by His Excellency former President Jacob Zuma and it is important that Mahlangu’s death is always commemorated so that it never gets to be forgotten in history, because the memory of Mahlangu and all people who fought for this freedom must never be lost,” said MK Party Gauteng Provincial Spokesperson Abel Tau while speaking to Tshwane Talks at the memorial lecture.
“We must always remember our fallen heroes, especially those who paid the ultimate price like Mahlangu, and also remember the sacrifices of those who are still with us today,'” said Tau.
“Former President Jacob Zuma gave most of his life to the struggle for liberation and he has now set up Umkhonto We Sizwe Party to ensure that we can finally achieve total liberation for our people, whereby the economy and the land is restored,” he said.
“This lecture becomes important so that future generations would understand that this country belongs to all who live in it as enshrined in the Constitution and also be aware that this land was taken by the colonisers not from the sky but from the country’s traditional leaders (Amakhosi), who must be accorded their rightful place in society as custodians of the land,” he enthused.
“All people must be able to benefit from the land in its entirety; the minerals that are under the ground as well as from the land above,” he said.
Also speaking at the memorial lecture, inaugural MK Party Youth League President Bonginkosi Khanyile said Solomon Mahlangu is the source of inspiration; the source of political fortitude and the source from which MK Party draws revolutionary morale to pursue the struggle of the landless people and those who live from hand to mouth not knowing where their next meal will come from.
“Comrade Solomon Mahlangu was a member of Umkhonto We Sizwe; the military wing of the ANC but we are confident that if he were still alive today he would be a member of the MK Party,” said Khanyile.
MK Party Treasurer General Brian Molefe explained that Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu faced the enemy on his own terms “and when the time came for him to be murdered by the enemy he said to the enemy that his blood was going to be the petrol for the liberation struggle in this country.”
Molefe said the MK Party “will always come to Solomon Mahlangu Memorial Park every year because Mahlangu inspires us and also because we have not achieved what he fought for.”
“Comrades I want you to understand the situation clearly and not be confused by what you see or hear on social media: Solomon Mahlangu’s elder brother Chief Lucas Kasola Mahlangu has not attended the commemoration ceremony today because he is held up by the circumcision school rituals which he is overseeing and whether we like it or not Gedleyihlekisa Jacob Zuma was Solomon Mahlangu’s commander and nobody will change that,” said a lady relative of the Mahlangu family.
She said this after rumours emerged that Mahlangu’s brother was opposed to MK Party’s commemoration service held in honour of his younger brother Solomon Mahlangu.
“We are here to honour our brave Comrade Solomon Mahlangu; a person who took a decision at a very young age to fight for the liberation of this country and showed bravery that had never been see before after we had trained him as an MK soldier,” said former President Jacob Zuma, who is the leader of the MK Party.
“When facing the gallows, Mahlangu made a speech that still inspires us today to have eternal courage to fight until we get our land back,” he said.
“We are not honouring Mahlangu alone but we are also honouring all the fallen heroes of the liberation struggle,” he explained.
“I have heard that there are people who have started an argument regarding the MK Party’s decision to honour Mahlangu but I must say their arguments are baseless,” he said.
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