Andrew Mlangeni, the mainstay of the struggle, spent the last few hours with his son Sello, but they can simply communicate.
Seal Mlangeni last told Sowetan that he saw his father last on Tuesday, hours before his death at Military Hospital 1 in Pretoria.
Seal said he saw his father on Friday and that he was “in a bad mood, laughing and making jokes as usual.”
“We were talking, he’s fine. We just talk and joke; and I think we’re just waiting for the effects of the check and they’re going to return it,” he said.
“I was given permission to see him again on Tuesday because [there are strict regulations] Covid-19 and it happens that this is the last time I saw him alive.”
Seal said his father was so committed to the liberation of the country that he gave his wife a widow and orphaned children while he was still alive and detained on Robben Island.
He said his appointments had been tense and they didn’t know how to identify themselves. So much so that their mother, June, had been a mediator between them.
“We were separated for many years and it is only now that we are only looking to make up for lost time because we went more than two or three decades without seeing others,” Sello said.
Seal told a story about the first verbal exchange he had with his father, when his father got out of jail. He said it awkward.
“There was this thing” how to talk? “Because we used to say raw letters [when Mlangeni was on Robben Island] now you’re talking to the guy. I was surprised, he didn’t know what to say too. I was a boy now, I didn’t know how to identify with him.”
“So for the last six years we’ve been looking to unite as a father and son and, to some extent, he was an intelligent comrade to me and we were smart friends.
It felt stolen.
“Oh, definitely. I feel stolen. That’s right. You know how to grow up without a father, even my mom, I think it’s hard too. Being a widow while you’re married has never been easy.” The time we were robbed, we couldn’t make up for it because, as I say, we only had six years when we were looking to put the parts together. Because I left the country when they were released and came back here by smart six years ago,” Seal said.
Mlangeni’s circle of relatives expected him to leave the hospital even stronger.
The 95-year-old man died in the early hours of the morning, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced.
One of his granddaughters, Sibongile Ngwenya, said the circle of relatives expected it to be as one of his various hospital remains from which he was discharged. “We expected it one way or another, but not today. We were hoping the soldier would come back as usual,” he said. “He goes [to the hospital] and goes home and we were incredibly optimistic.
“But then God’s will will have to succeed and we will have to settle for it.”
Mlangeni the last Trialist of Rivonia after the death of his companions, adding to former President and world icon Nelson Mandela, with whom he tried between 1963 and 1964.
Ngwenya, 50, said he chose to celebrate his life by focusing on the pain his death caused the family.
She is one of the mourners who visited Mlangeni space yesterday in Dube, Soweto.
She described him as “a guy who lived his life to the fullest” by telling him one of his best memories.
“We went to a funeral and we all went to my aunt’s space where they had tears and everyone drank.
“He had just had a knee surgery; Listen, didn’t you drop your tears? This time, we were all worried about his new surgery. The next day, when we called him, he stood up,” he said. Training
Mlangeni’s neighbor, Phillip Nhlapo, 71, said Mlangeni was a silent user who spoke only when spoken to.
However, Nhlapo said, he was willing to share his wisdom about his time during the fight against apartheid.
“I learned ubuntu and respect [for him]. I say that when you are respectful, even God adds more years to life and that’s why those men [the heroes of the fight] have lived so long,” Nhlapo said.
“He was telling us his story because we were very interested in how this old man survived. He was in a position to sit down, especially if you were looking to know his life.
His nephew Buti Mlangeni said the circle of relatives had lost one of its pillars. Someone who, according to him, was willing to lend a hand.
“His death actually killed our minds because we had him. When something happened in the family, he was the one who helped with the arrangements,” he says.
“Even here in Dube, he drew a hand. The gogos here knew I’d buy them blankets when winter came.
Buti said his uncle was a real anti-corruption activist.
Mlangeni was part of a long list of high-ranking commanders of umkhonto weSizwe who were attacked after his arrest at his hideout at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia’s apartheid.
The other people he tried with were Walter Sisulu, Denis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Lionel Bernstein, Raymond Mhlaba, James Kantor and Elias Motsoaledi, among others.
“The death of Andrew Mokete Mlangeni indicates the end of a generational story and puts our long way in our hands,” Ramaphosa said.
“Until recently, we could be at Bab ‘Mlangeni’s feet and take advantage of his wealth of wisdom and unwavering commitment, even in his very complex time, for a better life for all South Africans.”
Would you like to comment on this article or see comments from other readers? Sign up (it’s fast and free) or log in now.
Read our comment before commenting.