Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Solomon Mahlangu
1956 – 1979
Hanged at twenty-two, and the words he left behind
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Why they are here
An MK cadre hanged by the apartheid state in 1979, at twenty-two. "My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom," he said. The execution drew international condemnation.
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was born on 10 July 1956 and joined uMkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress.
He was captured after an operation to bring weapons and literature into the country and sentenced to death, though he had not fired the shots for which he was convicted. He was hanged on 6 April 1979, aged twenty-two. The execution provoked international protest and condemnation of the apartheid government, and the words attributed to him before his death — that his blood would nourish the tree bearing the fruits of freedom — became among the best known of the struggle.
He was captured after an operation to bring weapons and literature into the country and sentenced to death, though he had not fired the shots for which he was convicted. He was hanged on 6 April 1979, aged twenty-two. The execution provoked international protest and condemnation of the apartheid government, and the words attributed to him before his death — that his blood would nourish the tree bearing the fruits of freedom — became among the best known of the struggle.
- Wikipedia — Solomon Mahlangu
- South African History Online — Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu
- South African Government — Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu (1956–1979)
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