The last survivor of the courageous band of young men who faced unflinchingly the death penalty with Nelson Mandela has died aged 95.

The quiet and steely revolutionary Andrew Mlangeni was the last of the survivor of the Rivonia trial, ending in 1964, that saw Mandela and his comrades sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the underground movement that ran a sabotage campaign as part of the armed struggle against apartheid. Denis Goldberg, the other survivor, died in Cape Town in April.

Mlangeni served 27 years in prison, his release came only in 1989, on charges that he had nothing to do with. In later years he used to smile that he had served a life sentence for principle and nothing else. Like all the Rivonia trilaists he pleaded guilty to all the charges, in the hope of putting the government in the dock; it turned out to be so with the international press writing them up not as criminals, but as the Benjamin Franklins of Africa.

The last survivor of the courageous band of young men who faced unflinchingly the death penalty with Nelson Mandela has died aged 95.

The quiet and steely revolutionary Andrew Mlangeni was the last of the survivor of the Rivonia trial, ending in 1964, that saw Mandela and his comrades sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in the underground movement that ran a sabotage campaign as part of the armed struggle against apartheid. Denis Goldberg, the other survivor, died in Cape Town in April.

Mlangeni served 27 years in prison, his release came only in 1989, on charges that he had nothing to do with. In later years he used to smile that he had served a life sentence for principle and nothing else. Like all the Rivonia trilaists he pleaded guilty to all the charges, in the hope of putting the government in the dock; it turned out to be so with the international press writing them up not as criminals, but as the Benjamin Franklins of Africa.

“All the things that were done by Modise (Joe Modise the late former defence minister)  were put on me by the state witness. Everything; I didn’t do anything, I was out of the country. Even when they were concerning bombs etc. That was in 1961 and I was not here!” he told me in 2010 at his home in Dube, Soweto.

Mlangeni was under military training in China in 1961 where, along with Modise, he was to become one of the founder members of Umkhonto We Sizwe the military wing of the African National Congress. He even knew little of the underground’s sketchy plan –Operation Mayibuye- for the armed overthrow of South Africa. This half-baked plan imagined small armed groups of men landing on the beaches of South Africa and taking on one of Africa’s toughest defence forces. This was one of the main planks of the prosecution case at the Rivonia trial.

“We were fresh from China and eager to fight, so things such as documents we said let them go to the intellectuals,” said Mlangeni      

Mlangeni , who grew up in Soweto just outside Johannesburg, was born to question the system that condemned thinking men, like he, into a life of poorly paid servitude. He became an activist at an early age, politicized by the injustices he saw in his first job in a factory.  Later,he was to organize bus drivers in Johannesburg in going on strike.

On his emergence from prison, Mlangeni returned to the small house in Dube that he was arrested in during the winter of 1963. He became an ANC MP and in his mid 80s was very active and opened a constituency office in Dube to help serve the people.   

Mlangeni was under military training in China in 1961 where, along with Modise, he was to become one of the founder members of Umkhonto We Sizwe the military wing of the African National Congress. He even knew little of the underground’s sketchy plan –Operation Mayibuye- for the armed overthrow of South Africa. This half-baked plan imagined small armed groups of men landing on the beaches of South Africa and taking on one of Africa’s toughest defence forces. This was one of the main planks of the prosecution case at the Rivonia trial.

“We were fresh from China and eager to fight, so things such as documents we said let them go to the intellectuals,” said Mlangeni      

Mlangeni , who grew up in Soweto just outside Johannesburg, was born to question the system that condemned thinking men, like he, into a life of poorly paid servitude. He became an activist at an early age, politicized by the injustices he saw in his first job in a factory.  Later,he was to organize bus drivers in Johannesburg in going on strike.

On his emergence from prison, Mlangeni returned to the small house in Dube that he was arrested in during the winter of 1963. He became an ANC MP and in his mid 80s was very active and opened a constituency office in Dube to help serve the people.