REBURIAL OF SOLOMON MAHLANGU – MAMELODI, 06/04/93 TAPE #02

Record ID: 895509

  • Title: REBURIAL OF SOLOMON MAHLANGU – MAMELODI, 06/04/93 TAPE #02
  • Date: 6th April 1993
  • Summary: REBURIAL OF SOLOMON MAHLANGU – MAMELODI, 06/04/93 TAPE #02
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  • City: Mamelodi
  • Country: South Africa
  • Reuters ID: 93APR06R02
  • Story Text:REBURIAL OF SOLOMON MAHLANGU – MAMELODI, 06/04/93

    TAPE #02
    11:04:51: VARIOUS PEOPLE SEATED AND LISTENING
    11:12:52: WIDE OF THE STAGE
    11:18:20: NELSON MANDELA DELIVERS HIS SPEECH
    “Ngiyanidumelisa … (crowd respond) On the occasion of burying in a dignified manner a hero like Solomon Mahlangu. That respect means that I should stay here until his last remains are placed in the house where he is going to lye for eternity unfortunately you do other commitments I will not be able to pay respect which my heart had desired as soon as I finished delivering my address I will have to leave, I have an appointment. Is fought inside and outside our country and these trips are part of that battle against apartheid in our country I hope every one of you will appreciate why I have to leave… Solomon was hanged in 1979 the Boers hanged him as you’ve heard earlier, after they hanged him they buried him the same day what caused that was to scare the youth and the after attacked the White government. They will be killed the same way as Solomon died (Crowd applauding)… Without consulting his parents, he was buried on the same day I don’t think there is any other example where a person was hanged and buried the same day without his parents being informed. I am not so certain about his history it may well be that Forie on of the Afrikaner heroes in the country was treated in similar fashion I’m not so certain but I know the government of the day was indecent heist in trying days and sentencing him to death almost on the same day because they wanted to find those Afrikaners who rebelling against the government of the time same was done to comrade Solomon Mahlangu. But oppressors never lean; they should have learned what happened in regard to Forie in 1915. They never imagined that the African youth, Black youth would stand on their feet fight back and force the same government to abandon the apartheid to accept our policy of non racialism to seat down and talk to us we are not saying this by way of boasting because those leaders amongst them have agreed to seat down and talk to us by doing something that we are preaching but nevertheless we would like to tell you history of the present negotiations it is due very largely to the activities of our youth in an organised and disciplined struggle through Umkhonto Wesizwe. That we’ve reached this stage in trying to address the problems of our country… (XHOSA) There are two things I would like to talk about here is the question of education…
    11:36:37: CONTINUATION OF NELSON MANDELA DELIVERING HIS SPEECH
    “We will continue putting forward ideas which will free you and which will make you feel that you are decent human beings, but at the same time we are concerned about the fears of other groups because when there is a transaction it natural for everybody including the minority to ask the question, what is going to happen to my wife?
    To my husband? To my children? To national group that I belong? To the values which I was taught from childhood? To the question of peace? To the question of security? It is the duty of the leadership to consider those problems in their totality because we are no longer just a resisted movement many people regard us as a government in waiting. We may not succeed in that, we may be defeated by other political parties (Crowd shouting)… But if we do our work if every one of you goes out form today, from this meeting and try just to get ten members of the African National Congress for the rest of this year you get those ten then there can be no doubt that we will win the future election (Crowd applauding)…but you must not take it for granted that we are going to win. Let me give you an example because our activists know what is happening in this country you may have 100 000 people who support you in numbers and another organisation…
    11:40:31: CONTINUATION OF NELSON MANDELA DELIVERING HIS SPEECH
    “They were satisfied that if people vote for the ANC because it has the largest following, the largest membership in the township that we will win. The national party in that area accepted the challenge, they organised and took their members to the voting booth what do you think happened? Just tell me (Crowd laughing) who do you think won? (Crowd replies) Well let me tell you what happened the National Party beat us by eighty votes and they named the school in spite that they are a smaller party but they are efficiently organised, they are experienced in fighting the elections, they got the money if you rely on your numbers, if you just rely on your numbers. You will be disappointed it is not the African National Congress that will win it is the National Party you must then go away from here and go and organise, if you love the African National Congress if you love freedom if you want to honour heroes like Mahlangu you must go out to the field and organise your people…”
    11:42:42: CUTAWAY
    11:43:15: WIDE OF THE STAGE
    11:43:47: VARIOUS PEOPLE LISTENING
    11:45:44: CONTINUATION OF NELSON MANDELA DELIVERING HIS SPEECH
    “…It’s the single education system in this country we say one system of education and one system of financing education. We do not want that we should have separate schools for the Whites, separates schools for the so called Colords, separate schools for the Indians, separate schools for Africans we say our children should go to the same schools. They say they’ve opened now open same schools where all children can go without going into details that is not correct because the decision to go to any school is not a decision which is taken democratically but we won’t go into that. We want one education system and we believe that the democratic forces in this country are strong enough to force the government to grant that demand but if we are going to get that demand then our children, our youth they must fight for that right in the discipline manner no nation, no organisation can achieve it’s object if it has no discipline. We have reached this possession in our political development precisely because we have discipline, we do not allow our people to do as they like to force the people to join the organisation and to do all other things witch the many of our people are doing today. Discipline is the most powerful weapon that we can use in order to get our liberation… Now we want state education, we want private schools, we welcome religious schools, we considered that right as far back as 1965 it is in our basic policy document that we will allow all these different types of education that is our policy….”
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