Ronnie Kasrils pays tribute to Andrew Mlangeni, who referred to himself as the ANC leadership’s “Backroom Boy”.
A self-effacing gentle man, sentenced to life imprisonment as a terrorist, the life of the last surviving Rivonia trialist, Andrew Mokete Mlangeni (1925-2020), has run its course.
So diligent was Mlangeni in whatever tasks were assigned to him – small or big, arduous or perilous – that his comrades-in-arms nicknamed him Mr Reliable, Comrade Steadfast, Mr Dependability or phrases to that effect.
The likes of Joe Modise, with whom he worked on uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) missions, would slap their thighs, and laugh: “Mlangeni! Man, nothing could stop him once he was seized with a task. You could bet there could only be one outcome – fulfilment of his mission.”
The consequence was they dubbed him “Robot”, denoting someone who was remorseless in forward motion. That was in jest to pull Mlangeni’s leg. No offence taken. He had a self-deprecatory sense of humour and referred to himself as the ANC leadership’s “Backroom Boy”. [His chosen title for an engaging biography by Mandla Mathebula]
I first met Andrew Mlangeni in the company of Modise. This was in Durban soon after the return of the former from military training in China early in 1963. They were collecting dynamite we had “liberated” from a construction site.
‘Hot’ car
The one car we, of the then Natal MK Command, possessed had become too “hot”, and Modise ordered Mlangeni to drive it back to Joburg, where they would alter its appearance and registration. Something beyond us in Durban. The promise was they would replace it. That never happened.
Years later, after Mlangeni’s 26-year Robben Island “sojourn” and the legalisation of the ANC, he had become transport officer at the Joburg Shell House Headquarters. I duly approached him and requested a vehicle for my assigned work, which, as a campaigns officer, required trips all over the country.
He looked at me somewhat bemused, explaining that given some time he would see what was possible, but there were others who were ahead of me in line for a car. Vehicles were in short supply. Poker faced, I argued that I had been in line from the time of his 1963 Durban trip with Modise. His eyes twinkled with mirth. “Go tell that to Modise,” he teased. I got my car in due course. But our friendship didn’t count. I had to wait my turn.
To him, principles were fundamental. That went with his integrity. There was no question of favouritism or what’s called cronyism today.
Born in 1925 in the Free State, he knew poverty and suffering from the start. He was two years old when his father died. In penury, his mother moved to present day Soweto and they lived in a shanty town.
By the age of 12, he had left school to earn some money from casual chores; then became a factory worker and, by his early 20s, a bus driver for PUTCO.
By the early 1950s, he had joined the ANC Youth League and, by 1954, the ANC.
He served at Mandela and Sisulu’s side through the mass mobilisation campaigns of the 1950s, where they noted how reliable and diligent he was.
As a result of such qualities he was selected for a year’s military training in China as part of a trail blazing group of six. On returning home, he carried out MK operations with distinction until his arrest and indictment alongside his comrades-in-arms at the Rivonia Trial of 1964 and his sentence along with them to life imprisonment.
It was partly the hot car that Mlangeni had driven from Durban to Joburg that led to his undoing. He was brutally tortured, suffered electric shock treatment, but kept his mouth shut and gave no shred of information away. And the Backroom Boy had plenty of information under his hat.
Fortitude, integrity and fulfilment of the mission were the golden threads that ran through his life: Right to the very end, through service as an MP, Chair of the ANCs Integrity Committee, numerous tasks, deployment and top awards.
For him, success and accolades by no means meant that the struggle to eradicate poverty, racism, exploitation and inequality was done with.
“Love you country”
He was ready to raise his voice against corruption and strove in his quiet, backroom way to prevail on the ANC leadership to put the house in order. He understood the reality of an ongoing endeavour and of passing on the baton to the next generation.
Honesty and service to the people, not greed and self-interest, were his mantra.
“Love your country, love your people, fight corruption” was his message in these latter years.
Despite the years of sacrifice and deprivation, he had found time to enjoy life, particularly his marriage to his wife, June, and the four children he fathered.
She had waited faithfully for him during all those years of Robben Island. He loved to quip that she was his second wife; the first being his love for golf.
Tragically, she passed on in 2001 and that was a devastating blow. Yet, as ever, his resilience came to the fore with his irrepressible wit.
In his closing years, (he was something of an atheist by the way), he would state that he was looking forward to soon joining her. It was clear that he had no fear of death – whether in the fight against apartheid or the struggle with illness.
Perhaps it was the golf, and of course his abiding love of June, that kept up his morale – but certainly it was the years of struggle that shaped him and gave him his fortitude.
One of his last duties, a tribute to his internationalism, was endorsing a solidarity pledge to the People of Palestine, standing with them against the latest Israeli annexation deal of Trump and Netanyahu.
A life to celebrate
Under lockdown, my link to Andrew was through his devoted son Sello. We needed some big names and I asked Sello whether he could get his ailing father to agree. In next to no time came back the email with Andrew’s endorsement – and that has meant so much to the Palestinian people.
It must have been Andrew Mlangeni’s last political act.
We deeply mourn this passing of a gentle giant, a self-effacing Backroom Boy, who stood at the forefront of our people’s struggle for freedom, equality and democracy.
His is a life to celebrate at a rather bleak time. May the example of his dedication serve this country as we grapple with the many-sided pandemic of Covid-19, inequality and poverty.
Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, Backroom Boy, Comrade Reliable, stands centre stage. A beacon of hope and light for our country and people, and the generations to come.
“A giant tree has fallen,” said the ANC in a statement. “The death of Ntate Mlangeni marks the end of a revolutionary life that was dedicated to the struggle for justice and the defence of our freedom.”
– Ronnie Kasrils is a struggle veteran and former government minister
