ALI MPHAKI
THE mother of an ANC lawyer who was blown to pieces by an explosive device fitted on a Walkman by Eugene de Kock has only one wish for her 80th birthday next month – to get a special pension.
Catherine Mlangeni, who will turn 80 on March 18, has had her application for a special pension rejected three times on the basis that she does not “meet all the requirements”.
With the 21st anniversary of the brutal killing of her son Bheki on February 15, Mlangeni said it pained her to lose her son in such a manner and at the same time have her own role in the Struggle not recognised.
Mlangeni has her own Struggle credentials, which include opening her Jabulani home as a safe house for people willing to skip the country and join the liberation movement in exile. She also conscientised her neighbours.
“There are many who were accommodated here in my house before they went on to skip the country and join MK.
“This house was a hive of activity, with activists coming and going. I am not blowing my own trumpet, but I have played my small role in the liberation of this country and I suffered in return and still continue to suffer even when there is an ANC government in power.
“Clearly something is not right,” she said.
The widow said her family felt marginalised by the ANC and complained that even in President Jacob Zuma’s ANC centenary celebrations speech in Mangaung, no mention was made of her son, who had paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we all enjoy.
She said that even friends and comrades of her late son had stopped visiting the family.
“It’s like everyone has forgotten my Bheki,” she said.
Mlangeni, whose family have rejected apartheid hit squad leader Eugene de Kock’s plea for forgiveness, said her son’s death had caused the family untold hardship.
The death of her husband, Koos Mphikeleni Mlangeni, in 2000 served only to exacerbate the family’s struggle.
“He died a bitter man. He was never the same, especially after coming face to face with his son’s killer, De Kock, at his trial in Pretoria in 1996.”
Bheki’s elder brother, Thabane Mlangeni, said the family were puzzled about why their mother’s application for a special pension had been rejected.
Bulelwa Boqwana, spokeswoman for the National Treasury, said her department did not respond to enquiries from the media and asked that we urge Mlangeni to contact them directly.
The ANC’s communication manager, Keith Khoza, asked Mlangeni to visit the provincial office of the organisation.
“I am sure they can assist her,” Khoza said.