Mashatile honours the legacy of Solomon Mahlangu and touts ANC's rejuvenation

ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile commemorated the life and legacy of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu with a memorial lecture on Sunday in Khayelitsha, while other ANC leaders also undertook other activities in Mahlangu's memory in Gauteng.

- THEOLIN TEMBO

Mahlangu was a young uMkhonto we Sizwe combatant and liberation hero who was executed by the apartheid regime at the age of 22.

Mashatile used the lecture not only to remember Mahlangu but also as a way to bolster the ANC's presence and reconnection with the community as the work began for the 2026 local government elections.

Mashatile said that he was honoured and pleased to have the opportunity to deliver the lecture.

"In the year 2025, South Africa celebrates 31 years of democracy, this being a remarkable milestone obtained through the unwavering determination of the people of this beautiful and resilient country.

"The reality is that for us to enjoy this democracy, countless South Africans paid the ultimate price with their lives.

"Many of the freedom fighters who gave their lives for a non-racial South Africa did not live to witness the democracy we enjoy today.

"One of those great leaders of our liberation struggle is the iconic Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, a young activist whom the apartheid regime unjustly executed on this day, April 6th, 1979, 46 years ago."