The highest honour of Freedom of the City was bestowed on two struggle icons by City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Parks Tau during a glittering ceremony in Randburg.
Anti-apartheid icons Advocate George Bizos and Andrew Mlangeni received the award for the pivotal role they played in the country’s fight for freedom.
“It is our right and privilege to celebrate the fact that we are blessed with two rare individuals who are simultaneously activists, leaders, patriots and global icons. They surrendered their lives to the cause of all humanity so that we, all of us, enjoy the freedoms that are today synonymous with the democratic South Africa,” said Tau
Bizos was a member of the legal team that defended the Rivonia Trialists. He dedicated his career to fighting for basic human rights during apartheid. Since the end of apartheid, he has fought to ensure those rights, guaranteed under the Constitution, are accorded to all South Africans.
Mlangeni was one of the accused in the Rivonia Treason Trial and spent 26 years on Robben Island in the cell next to Nelson Mandela before serving in Parliament in the first democratic government. His son, Sello Mlangeni, attended the event on his behalf.
