To be truthful, I had never heard of Solomon Mahlangu before a road in Pretoria was named after him recently. But what made me actually question who he was & what he did to deserve such an honour was last Saturday’s race in Mamelodi which was held as a tribute to him.
What struck me as being odd was why a race held in memoriam would not encompass both the school that he attended – the Mamelodi High School – and the statue of him in a square in Mamelodi which had been unveiled in 2005.
In summary, I then learnt that Solomon had been an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cadre who, according to the ANC, was wrongfully accused on charges of murder and terrorism in 1977, and executed by hanging in 1979.
For this reason, he was revered by the ANC & honoured in various ways. But let us look at the facts & I will let you decide whether he was a villain or a hero?
Solomon attended Mamelodi High School up to Standard 8, but did not complete his schooling as a result of the school’s closure due to ongoing riots. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in September 1976, and left the country to be trained as an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) “The Spear of the Nation” soldier. The training was received in Angola and Mozambique and on 11 June 1977 he returned to South Africa as a cadre, heavily armed, through Swaziland to assist with student protests.
Goch Street, the site where the John Orr’s warehouse was located
Mahlangu’s MK unit left Angola in mid-1977 on a mission to join student protests commemorating the June 16 Uprising and the police massacre that followed. They travelled through Mozambique to Namatswa on the Swaziland border, where Collin Ramusi drove them to a safe house in Mbabane. They were then briefed by General Siphiwe Nyanda who would become Chief of the SANDF in later years and given suitcases filled with false bottoms containing pamphlets, guns and grenades. The packages in which cadres received their sabotage material were known as ‘Dead letter Boxes’ (DLBs). It was common for each unit to be split into cells of three cadres when travelling into South Africa. Mahlangu was assigned to a cell with Lucky and Motloung.
On 11 June 1977 their cell crossed the border into the South African town of Piet Retief. They moved around, staying at the homes of various family members and contacts. At each stop they hid parts of their DLBs, certain items were left for the use of other cadres who would pass through the area later, and others were to be used by local communities for the June 16 protests.
On 13 June 1977 the trio made their way to the Diagonal Street taxi rank in Johannesburg where they planned to catch a taxi to Soweto. As the first anniversary of the Soweto uprising was just three days away, the police presence was strong and evident. A Black policeman on patrol noticed the trio entering a taxi with large bags and approached them. The policeman said ‘laat ek sien wat het julle daar!’ (Let me see what you have there). The policeman grabbed a bag and a hand grenade and AK-47 rifle fell out, with the policeman running for cover. The trio panicked and fled from the taxi, disappearing into the crowd. Lucky ran in the direction of Park station and managed to elude capture.
Mahlangu and Motloung ran towards Fordsburg along Jeppe Street, not realising that they were running towards John Vorster Square, the most notorious police station in the country. On the way Motloung got into a tug-of-war with an off-duty policeman. He managed to get away, but the policeman shot at the running pair, hitting Mahlangu in the ankle. The pair kept running, turning left into Goch Street. Running slightly ahead of Motloung, Mahlangu ran into John Orr’s warehouse, where he took cover. Desperately seeking Mahlangu, a panicked Motloung entered the warehouse and fired shots, killing two John Orr’s employees.
Within minutes police surrounded the entire area. Mahlangu and Motloung were beaten by onlookers and the police, and arrested and detained at the nearby John Vorster Square Prison.
Before the trial could commence Motloung was so badly beaten that he sustained severe brain damage. Clinical psychologist Annah Venter declared Motloung unfit to stand trial.
Solomon Mahlangu pleaded not guilty to all charges. Although Motloung was the one who fired the shots that killed the two civilians and wounded two others, the Prosecution argued that under the law of Common Purpose, Mahlangu shared intent with Motloung and George ‘Lucky’ Mahlangu, making him guilty of murder whether or not he pulled the trigger.
On the basis of the Common Purpose provisions, Solomon Mahlangu was sentenced to death & was hanged at Pretoria Central Prison, Pretoria on 6 April 1979.
Being opposed to the death penalty & violence of any kind, I am in a quandary. Even though Motloung had fired the shots that killed the various people, the fact that he was beaten so severely that he suffered brain damage cannot be condoned in any way. As an aside, I wonder whether any policemen were charged let alone prosecuted for this crime.
Then we arrive at the whole question of the iniquities of Common Purpose. In effect the Egyptian Authorities have recently sentenced 586 pro Morsi demonstrators to death for being involved in an anti-government demonstration on a similar charge.
In my view, a death sentence for being an accomplice is extremely excessive. He should have been sentenced to no more than 10 years in prison.
Now comes my real dilemma. Is Solomon a hero for being in the company of a fellow MK member who killed some innocent civilians? Surely not!
That can only leave the option that he was unfairly executed for a crime as the ANC claims, he did not commit.
If so, that is disgusting & an unconscionable travesty of justice but does that make him a hero like the ANC clearly proclaims.
I sincerely doubt it.
Surely the ANC has more deserving honourees than this?
In conclusion, Solomon Mahlangu was neither a villain nor a hero but a victim of a justice system intent on making a point instead of dispensing justice.