Mlangeni funeral ‘must not sow divisions’, pleads family
The Mlangeni family says it does not want the struggle stalwart’s funeral to be mired in controversy.
The African National Congress (ANC) has announced a series of virtual memorial activities to pay tribute to the late Andrew Mlangeni.
Mlangeni, who was the last remaining Rivonia trialist, passed away at 1 Military Hospital in Tshwane at the age of 95 on Tuesday.
Eyebrows have been raised after it was announced that former president Jacob Zuma will kickstart the series of events on Friday evening.
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Mlangeni accused Zuma of killing the South African economy and the ANC back in 2016.
The former Robben Islander, who served as the chairperson of the party's integrity committee at the time, also condemned the party's leaders for not forcing the president to resign after the damning Nkandla Constitutional Court judgment.
Speaking in Soweto on Friday, family spokesperson Malose Kekana said they do not want the funeral to attract any controversy.
"We don't want the funeral to be mired in controversy and current affairs.
"I think as Africans it is a duty for us not use Ntate Mlangeni's funeral as a point of sowing divisions with the ANCm to the extent that there are disapprovals by whichever quarters.”
He said some of the initiatives are not driven or approved by the family.
"As we said earlier on some of these initiatives are not driven by the family, so from the families point of view our role has been limited to one of the memorial (service) and the funeral itself.”