Andrew Mlangeni and George Bizos at Ahmed Kathrada’s funeral in 2017. (Felix Dlangamandla, Netwerk24)
Andrew Mlangeni never shied away from speaking his truth, writes Qaanitah Hunter.
I will never forget the conversation I had with struggle veteran Andrew Mlangeni about former president Jacob Zuma.
I almost choked on my water when he flippantly said he had told Zuma that soon the former president would be returning to prison if he doesn’t “stop what he is doing”.
I checked if I heard right and Mlangeni was unreservedly clear Zuma would soon land up in jail for corruption.
In the height of the state capture era, Mlangeni was one of the first ANC elders to condemn him and the notorious Gupta family.
He went a step further by calling Zuma before the integrity committee to account.
I remember his recollection of Zuma’s demeanour during that meeting as he detailed how the former president said Western forces were behind the accusations against him.
For Mlangeni, his claims were preposterous – crazy, even.
It was simple for him. He knew that Zuma was up to no good and had to be removed from office.
‘I will get into trouble’
In the near decade that I interacted with Ntate Mlangeni, he never held back on speaking his truth.
When he co-chaired the ANC integrity committee he would laugh, saying, “I know I will get into trouble for saying this” and then say it anyway.
For him, it could never be ill-discipline to speak out against corruption. It was unthinkable that some party leaders were defending Zuma in the name of party unity.
Despite this, he never fell into the trap of party factionalism.
He laughed off claims made by Kebby Maphatsoe, who headed the MKMVA, that the party veterans who called for Zuma to go were empty tins with no struggle credentials.
His laughter signalled that it was not worth a response.
Ntate Mlangeni was candid and honest in all the conversations I had with him over the years.
I sometimes felt we did him an injustice to bother him with questions around the day’s politics in his twilight years. He never seemed to mind.
For him, he was simply speaking his truth.
About two years ago, I attended his 93rd birthday party.
He had a bout of ill-health prior to that and his family and foundation wanted to celebrate him and lift his spirits.
Spicing things up
By then he was walking with a cane and would complain of fatigue often. He was still the fittest and most upbeat nonagenarian I have ever encountered.
It was a normal political birthday party with speeches by the president and other political figures until Mlangeni decided to spice things up.
In front of the president and other ministers and the media, Mlangeni joked the secret to a long happy life was sex three times a week.
It was a hilarious moment that caught everyone in that room off-guard.
Then he qualified it by saying: “You know‚ at my age‚ I’m free to say anything.”
He singled out a prudish nephew who hated when he spoke about such things in public then defended himself, saying he believed in speaking his truth.
“My children say I am naughty,” he once cheekily said to me.
Over the years, I would see him at ANC and presidential golf days and I never saw more of a spark in his eye than I would see him on the golf course.
Heartwarming interactions
Always early, dressed in a crisp golf shirt, Mlangeni would excitedly jump into the golf caddy for the tee off.
Every time a comrade of his would die, he would patiently recount their lives and time on Robben Island.
He would speak passionately about the past.
He often joked with me about how frail his comrades, who were younger than him, were compared to how upbeat, and prim and proper he was.
Every interaction I had with Mlangeni was heartwarming and enriching.
More than the struggle hero, he was a phenomenal human who lived and spoke his truth.
The world, South Africa and the ANC is definitely poorer without him.
– Qaanitah Hunter is News24’s political editor
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