9 things you need to about Solomon Mahlangu

Freedom fighter Solomon Mahlangu. Picture: Supplied

Freedom fighter Solomon Mahlangu. Picture: Supplied

Published Apr 6, 2021

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Facts:

– Solomon “Kalushi” Mahlangu was born in Pretoria on 10 July in 1956

– He joined the ANC in September 1976, and left the country to be trained as an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)

– Mahlangu was a South African freedom fighter, struggle activist and operative of the African National Congress(ANC) militant wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

– The training was received in Angola and Mozambique and on June 11, 1977 he returned to South Africa as a cadre, heavily armed, through Swaziland to assist with student protests.

– On June 13, 1977, Mahlangu and his companions, Mondy Johannes Motloung and George "Lucky" Mahlangu, were accosted by the police in Goch Street, Joburg. “Lucky” Mahlangu managed to escape, however, in the ensuing gun battle two civilian men were killed and two wounded. Solomon Mahlangu and Motloung were arrested.

– He was tried from November 7, 1977 to March 1, 1978, for charges associated with the attacks in Goch Street in June 1977.

– On June 15, 1978 Mahlangu was refused leave to appeal his sentence by the Rand Supreme Court, and on July 24, 1978 he was refused again in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court

– The Solomon Mahlangu Square in Mamelodi, Pretoria was dedicated to his memory in 1993 and later the ANC established the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), at Mazimbu, Tanzania in 1978.

– He was convicted of murder and hanged in 1979.

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