Image

Solomon Mahlangu was one of many young people from Soweto, a large African township of Soweto, who decided to join the armed struggle in exile after the student uprising of 1976. When he returned to the country one year later with a group of cadres in the armed wing of the Africa National Congress to join a commemoration of the uprising, he was captured in a gun battle with police. He as tried and executed, although there was no evidence that he had killed anyone. April 6, 1979 is the date of his execution in Pretoria Central Prison. The quotation on the poster is part of what was reported to be his last words before being hanged. This was one of more than 50 posters created by Medu, most of whose members were South Africans living in exile; they worked in visual arts, literature, and drama.

By Medu, a collective of cultural workers living in Gaborone, Botswana from 1977 to 1985.

April 6, 1979

Collection: Posterbook Collective of the South African History Archive

Used by permission.