Deputy President David Mabuza, along with Cabinet ministers and their deputies and members of struggle icon Solomon Mahlangu's family will take the 52 steps to the gallows at Kgoši Mampuru II Correctional Facility in Pretoria on Friday in commemoration of Mahlangu's execution there 39 years ago.
"My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight." These were the last words of Mahlangu who was hanged by the apartheid government on April 6, 1979, at what was then known as the Pretoria Central Prison.
READ: 'Solomon Mahlangu wanted to die like a soldier'
Mahlangu, an uMkhonto weSizwe soldier, was arrested in 1977 shortly after returning to SA from Angola and Mozambique where he received training to help with the student protests.
He was tried and convicted of two murders and three counts under the Terrorism Act.
His execution provoked international outrage and protests against South Africa's apartheid policy.
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