South Africa’s fallen freedom fighter Andrew Mlangeni “belonged to an era of a tireless struggle of sacrifice, service of honour and integrity,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.
The president said this when he delivered his eulogy in honour of the late struggle icon at Mlangeni’s funeral service held at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus.
According to Ramaphosa, Mlangeni lived in an era of leaders who had embodied the best of humanity in order to free their fellow oppressed citizens under apartheid rule.
Due to this, Mlangeni’s legacy would live on in the freedom felt and experienced by South Africans today, the president said.
Mlangeni, who was the last surviving Rivonia Trialist alongside Nelson Mandela and seven other Umkhonto weSizwe soldiers, died last week at a military hospital in Pretoria after complaining of abdominal pains at the age of 95.
Mlangeni’s funeral service was followed by a burial service at Roodepoort Cemetery, where he was laid to rest next to his wife, in a ceremony overseen by the country’s military.
JN/APA