WeeklySA_AdminLAST RESPECTS: Scores expected to attend the US-educated business executive’s funeral in KwaThema, Springs, tomorrow…
By Oupa Ngwenya
One of South Africa’s eminent business executives and socialite Dexter Mahlangu, who passed away recently, will be buried in Ekurhuleni tomorrow.
Born on October 31 1954, Jabulani Dexter Mahlangu was the first-born of the three sons of the late Mabel and Albert Mahlangu in Kwa-Thema, Springs.
He started schooling at Kgotso Lower Primary in Payneville, Springs, completed higher primary education at Zamani, and then proceeded to Tlakula High School. He matriculated at Dlangezwa High School, Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal.
Springs has generally been referred to as the ‘last dorp’, being the last terminal point on the belt of mining towns on the Reef, starting from Randfontein on the West to Springs on the East.
Mahlangu loved jazz – a genre I was also initiated to. But, once relaxing to music at his Wauchope Street home in 1976, the jazz lovers in us found a common groove in Steve Wonder’s album release of that year, titled ‘Songs into the key of life’. One popular hit song that particularly struck a chord in us was Love is in need of love today. The song would be played again and again and again ‘tot almal tuis’ – till all at home – got used to it.
Incidentally, Tsotsi taal (a dialect derived from a mix of Afrikaans and other South African languages) was no stranger to jazz enthusiasts. Once Wonder’s ditty had resonated enough, parting would not be easy to get by without playing If it’s magic on the same album.
With each parting, we would be free to go separate ways to our respective kind of jazz. In an era that jazz player Dexter Gordon topped the stakes, his name Dexter won the day while his African name (Jabulani) paled into insignificance.
Mahlangu had a style and dress sense unique to him, with the song ‘If it’s magic’ eventually resonating with his sartorial dress sense. As an avid jazz lover, he became a member of the Blue Notes.
With the rise of Black Consciousness (BC) in the 1970s, following the establishment of the South African Students Organisation (SASO) in 1968, the philosophy had firmly taken root in black campuses when Mahlangu enrolled at University of Fort Hare in 1973.
At Fort Hare, Mahlangu struck a friendship with Khotso Mokhele. Both took a common interest in soccer to play for the university team called “The Rabbits”, with Mahlangu establishing himself in the midfield while Mokhele a goalkeeper.
Fellow student Ratha Mokgoatlheng, now a judge and co-founder of Kaizer 11(later Kaizer Chiefs) at the time, and Juda Duiker of Moroka Swallows Big XV were notable professional players to have featured for The Rabbits.
Besides playing for The Rabbits, Mahlangu became an active part of student activism gripping the country as much as black campuses at the time. Academic activity at Fort Hare was disrupted by a strike of 1973. Mahlangu fell within the 90 percent of the students that did not sit for exams that year, returning in 1974 and thereafter leaving for Turfloop in the then Northern Transvaal in 1975.
As was common in those days, political activism invited stern police attention, state harassment and detention. For his troubles, Mahlangu had a stint at Modderbee Prison in Benoni, spending no less than a year in detention without trial.
Later, he left to take up studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago in the United States, specialising in marketing and advertising.
In the US, he was our main contact and coordinator as part of the South African Students Committee (SASCO). He served as a major contact for political and community activities in the Chicago area, including for the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA) operating in exile.
As BCMA representative in the United States, Mahlangu worked with another BC proponent Twiggs Xiphu, whose apartment in Takoma Park, Washington DC, was known as “the people’s embassy”. Xiphu was the deputy chairman of the BCMA.
Mahlangu obtained a post-graduate diploma in business Administration at Gordon Institute of Business Science and Bachelor of Science (Business Administration) at Roosevelt University.
In the US, he worked for IBM after completing his studies there. Back home, he worked for various entities in the private and public sector as well as in the academic research field, mainly in communications, marketing and advertising.
He also worker for BP South Africa (1986);Perm Bank (1987); Circuit Breaker (1994-1997); Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (1997-2002); National Research Foundation (2002-2003); and Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (2006-2014).
He was married to his wife Mary. Failure in health saw him being admitted to Glenwood Hospital in Benoni and passed away on July 12. He is survived by his brothers, Sibusiso and Nsizwa, and his children Nkululeko, Khosi, Nqobile, Banele and Oumakie.
He will be buried at Boksburg’s Van Dyk Park Cemetery after a service at Central Methodist Church, corner Kgaswane and Lesia streets in Kwa-Thema.
