Mlangeni’s death was announced on Wednesday, July 22. He was the last surviving Rivonia trialist, spending more than a quarter of a century imprisoned on Cape Town’s notorious Robben Island before his release in 1989.
Announcing his death, the presidency said in a tweet: “President Cyril Ramaphosa has learnt with deep sadness of the passing away overnight of the last remaining Rivonia Trialist.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to Mlangeni, saying his death signified “the end of a generational history.”
“With his passing as the last remaining Rivonia Trialist, Bab’Mlangeni has indeed passed the baton to his compatriots to build the South Africa he fought to liberate and to reconstruct during our democratic dispensation,” Ramaphosa said.