‘These students are messing up’
They must learn the freedom they have came at a price – Rivonia triallist.
The children and government of today are “messing up”, Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island jailmate and fellow Rivonia trialist Andrew Mlangeni said yesterday.
Standing next to an exact replica of his and Madiba’s prison cells, Mlangeni, 91, told The Citizen that children had to learn the freedom they enjoyed today had come at a price.
It was a reunion of sorts as fellow stalwarts, including Ahmed Kathrada and Denis Goldberg, gathered among throngs of pupils at the Spine Road High School in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, for the launch of Mandela’s prison cell replica.
Mlangeni hoped the replica would humble and remind children about the sacrifices made for the attainment of freedom.
“It [freedom] was not given to us on a silver platter. We fought for it and people sacrificed their lives … for us to be where we are today,” Mlangeni said.
“Unfortunately, we are messing it up, by doing many things that are unforgivable. Government today has lost its dignity because of the behaviour of people who did not fight for this freedom we gave them on a silver platter.
“We fought and people died for our freedom.”
Eddie Daniels, another political activist who was imprisoned on Robben Island during the apartheid era, said Mandela embodied integrity, compassion and understanding.
“Looking back, it was good times because we survived what they threw at us and we won the war,” Daniels said.
Spine Road High principal Rijaad Najar said the event was “great for helping pupils understand the opportunities they have were the result of sacrifice”. –