“My late elder brother loved the  ANC  a  lot and would listen to freedom songs e.g. by Mzwakhe Mbuli. He would read a lot about the liberation of black people – including material about Marcus Garvey and Patrice Lumumba, among others”. This influenced him to become conscious about the happenings in his area. “When I was doing Standard 8 – an announcement was made that Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners would be released. This sparked celebrations in our high school, Langa SSS in Flagstaff. We joined these celebrations, which disrupted schooling on the day!”

A year or so later, Cde Chris Hani visited Flagstaff on his return from exile and addressed crowds in a nearby soccer field and Cde Lungile attended. “When he was assassinated in 1993, we became more conscious of the need for liberation of the oppressed”.

When he was at the University of Transkei, he stayed with a relative “where the APLA soldiers stayed – the cold-blooded murder of the Mpedulo twins in Umtata by the apartheid security forces also cemented my consciousness about the brutality of the system”. His consciousness was awoken to “the conditions that blacks and Africans in particular, should not leave under. When the first democratic elections took place in 1994, I was one of the IEC volunteers”.

The lessons and values that he has learnt include selflessness and gratitude to those gone before

“The liberation we enjoy today is as a result of the sacrifices of those who can before us, those who had the foresight about the ANC and the legacy they wanted to leave,” he says.

Other values he has incorporated into his life include self-improvement, sacrifice, selflessness, and service to the people.

His generational mission is economic freedom

“Self- empowerment for sustainable economic empowerment,” he says.

The key roles he has had within the MDM include

• Publicity Secretary of the Commerce Student Society (COMSOC) (1995/96)
• Acting President of Business Awareness Forum (1996)
• Treasurer of the Unitra (now WSU) Interim SRC (1996)
• Deputy Secretary of the ANC Ward 20 in Carletonville (2004)
• BEC Member of the ANC Julius Sebolai Branch (Ward 83) in Greater Joburg (2012 -2014)
• Secretary of the ANC Julius Sebolai Branch (Ward 83) in Greater Joburg (2014 – 2016)
• Chairperson of the ANC Julius Sebolai Branch (Ward 83) in Greater Joburg (2016 – 2018)
• Current Zonal Secretary of the ANC Zone 5 in Greater Joburg (from 2017)
• Current Chairperson of Julius Sebolai Branch (Ward 83) in Greater Joburg (from 2018)

His hope for young South Africans is that they can lead the economic revolution

“We need youth that is politically-conscious and committed to the revolution. Young people should be skilled and equipped to lead the digital and economic revolution – so that they can be economically liberated.”