We’ve mentioned earlier that our task is not to provide either a personal or an intellectual biography for Sobukwe, at least not in a conventional sense. Our aim remains for him to speak; at best, we peer over his shoulder, as in the way to which the photograph of our preface sensitised us. Even so, there are some orienting remarks we feel necessary to make, in order for his voice to resonate more clearly in the present. To that end we’ve alerted the reader to the importance of our footnotes – commentary or direction from the wings, as it were, or mise en scène providing a fuller and more meaningful understanding of the action on centre stage. We continue this practice throughout.

However, there is also some commentary that needs to be somewhat more explicit. In keeping with the metaphor of the theatre, this would be those notes printed in the handbill or programme, which provide more background, some capsule details about the performers and the performance itself, and which anticipate comments or questions the audience may have. For example, there is an eleven-year gap between Sobukwe's ‘completers’ social’ speech at Fort Hare College in 1949 and his article in The Africanist in 1958. What happened in the intervening decade? This short introduction to Part II serves to provide such detail.

The section starts with the speech Sobukwe delivered, as chairperson of the Student Representative Council, to the graduating class at Fort Hare. It is remarkable for its maturity and oratory. It was also a watershed moment in Sobukwe's life, a turn at a crossroads in many ways. The career trajectory he had imagined for himself a few years earlier, and the expectation among his benefactors, was that upon graduation he would return to Healdtown Institute as a teacher. The completers’ speech, however, so angered the Methodist administrators of that institution that that path was closed down – he was now a clear ‘troublemaker’ and ‘unsuitable’ for a position at Healdtown. There are indications, though, that this was not quite the disappointment such administrators may have imagined, as Sobukwe felt a gnawing pull to make a contribution on a larger stage than that of a rural teacher, the prestige and importance of the Healdtown school notwithstanding.

Accused no. 39, David Ramodibe, calls Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe

The Court to Prosecutor. I am making a request, I am not making an order, that the witness’ leg irons be removed. It is only when I receive an assurance to the contrary, that it is essential that we must have the leg irons, that I will permit them to be left on. Now, is the witness going to give evidence in English?

Prosecutor. Yes.

Sobukwe. English.

The Court. Before we go on, I have now requested that the leg irons be taken off you. I hope you realize that as far as this Court is concerned, you will not cause any trouble on that account. Will you give me that understanding?

Sobukwe. Correct.

The Court. Now accused No. 39 in the case will conduct the examination in chief on behalf of the five undefended accused. Ramodibe. Mr. Sobukwe, what was your occupation before the 21st of March, 1960?

Sobukwe. I was lecturer in Bantu languages at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Ramodibe. What was your educational standard?

Sobukwe. I’m a B.A. of the University of South Africa, B.A. Honours, Witwatersrand.

Ramodibe. Do you know an organisation called the Pan African Congress?

Sobukwe. Correct.

Ramodibe. Are you a member there?

Sobukwe. I was the President of the Pan Africanists Congress.

Ramodibe. How old was the organisation before the 21st of March, 1960?

Sobukwe. Just on 11 months. It was founded on the 6th of April, 1959.

The Court. Is there any significance in the fact that it was founded on Van Riebeek day?

Sobukwe. I don't know.

Ramodibe. Mr. Sobukwe, was P.A.C. a registered organisation before the 21st of March?

Sobukwe. African political organisations are not registered. Ramodibe. Can I put the question this way. Was the P.A.C. organisation known by the Government?

Sobukwe. Correct.

Ramodibe. Before the campaign I realized that certain pamphlets were delivered by the P.A.C. […] When was the last pamphlet delivered, or issued?

Sobukwe. It should be round about the 18th of March, the Friday prior to the riots.

Ramodibe. What information did it carry to the people?

Sobukwe. It outlined the nature of the campaign and also gave the date on which the campaign would start.

Of all the remarkable photographs that Peter Magubane took of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, perhaps the image that best encapsulates the first leader of the Pan Africanist Congress is one that at first glance might be overlooked. It is a photograph taken early on 21 March 1960, one of the first in a sequence that Magubane captured on that fateful day, which would culminate in the tragedy of the Sharpeville Massacre. The image has a transporting quality: one can imagine the chilliness of an autumnal Soweto morning, the scent of the leaves of the eucalyptus tree in the background, the scratchy surface of the gravel road beneath the feet of the men in the picture. It involves us. We, as viewers, are positioned alongside – slightly behind – a man who, like us, is witness to the scene. And while we are situated as onlookers, we are also – like him – invited to join the others, to step into the tableau before us, and take up a place in the history-making events that are about to unfold.

There is a spectrum of emotions on display in Sobukwe's comrades. Some are smiling, buoyed by the camaraderie of the moment; others are serious, cognisant perhaps of the magnitude of events about to take place; one appears hesitant, as if thinking twice about what their proposed course of action will commit him to; another seems to be awaiting clarification in response to a question he has just directed to Sobukwe; yet another is caught mid-stride, as if he can't wait to start the campaign, to begin the walk to Orlando police station. Yet despite these varying responses, all of these men are connected to one another and grounded by Sobukwe's presence; they are drawing confidence and courage from the political vision and the leadership that he so clearly embodies. Within a few minutes they will set off, heading towards the police station, where they will offer themselves up for arrest as part of the Pan Africanist Congress anti-pass campaign, taking thus a step which will change not only their lives, but eventually also the course of a nation.

A. A chain of reaction

The significant portion of our social milieu begins with the expansion of the markets founded by the rising commercial capital of Western Europe at the turn of the fifteenth century. Succeeding years witnessed the ‘discovery’ of new lands by the Europeans, the Papal award of the whole of Africa to the Portuguese, increased European slave raids on Africa that denuded Africa of Africans and led to the establishment in the Americas of the greatest mass chattel slavery that the world had ever known. Africa had been successfully robbed of Africans. It was this chattel slavery that contributed substantially to the initiation of the European industrial revolution which in turn resulted in the unleashing of the forces of reaction which culminated in the rape of Africa at the close of the last century.

B. Land robbery and political subjugation

Early European settlement of Africa, especially of its southern tip, was a direct result of the rise of European commercial capital. Wave upon wave of European settlers came to Africa and their penetration of the interior involved the loss of sovereignty by the indigenous peoples and the alienation of more and more portions of their land. With the rise of the industrial capital of Europe and its increased search for raw materials and more markets, the partition of Africa went apace and the doctrine of ‘effective occupation’ was enunciated, a theory calculated to ‘sugar coat’ the bitter pills of land robbery and political subjugation. More and more settlers came into the country until today there are 5,000,000 Europeans who up to the dawn of African liberation had constituted themselves as a ruling class over the 250,000,000 indigenous peoples. Africans had been successfully robbed of Africa.

C. Established by the sword

The advent of European imperialism and colonialism to Africa brought in its wake the phenomenon of white domination, whether visible or invisible, which is characterised by the political oppression, economic exploitation and social degradation of the indigenous African masses. Throughout this historical epoch, the age of white domination, whenever the spokesmen or representatives of white domination have sprouted a conscience, they have referred to the phenomenon as the ‘spread of Western civilisation’ or ‘the extension of Christian trusteeship’.

Within a month's time we shall have passed another milestone on the long and tedious journey to freedom. Others, too, will have passed a milestone. But they will be travelling on the treacherous and slippery road to doom. In both cases there applies the law of inevitability. But the goals are different and so is the spirit of the travellers. The forces of ‘Tokoloho ka nako ea rona’ are marching on, buoyant and confident, not looking at their hill, but climbing it: On the other hand, the forces of retrogression, stagnation and ‘man's inhumanity to man’ are administering the last desperate kicks of a dying horse. Their doom is sealed; and they [know] it. The dawn of the glory of freedom is breaking, when man shall establish control over things and not over other men: And we know it. And thus we move into 1958.

The passing year has witnessed historic events, chief among which have been the women's militant struggle against ‘Passes for Women’ and the militant disciplined struggle of our nurses against nursing apartheid. There have been the long-drawn-out Treason Trials and the magnificent June 26th ‘Stay at Home’ observance. There has been the glorious Bus Boycott side by side with the abortive ‘Economic Boycott of Cigarettes and Tobacco’. We have witnessed during 1957 a desire for unity and solidarity among the masses and a tendency towards crippling and contemptuous bureaucracy on the part of our leaders. It is a known fact that the Bus boycott was sabotaged by some unnamed individual ‘higher-up’, acting under certain influences. It is equally well known that quite a number of branches in the Transvaal heard about the planned Economic Boycott after the police and the manufacturers had been informed about it by ‘New Age’ and ‘The Star’ and ‘Die Transvaler’ etc. In fact, 1957 has been a year of ‘Directives’ and ‘Counter-Directives’ from a variety of sources. But the struggle continues.

It continues, because the African masses today owe loyalty to the movement for liberation, to the concept of a disciplined, principled struggle for freedom, rather than to a particular individual or to a particular organisation.

Case No. L.173/60

Date: 4/4/1960

In the Magistrate's Court for the Regional Division of South Transvaal, held at Johannesburg

Before: Mr. J. de K. Du Plessis

REGINA versus:

Charge: As per Charge Sheet attached.

Plea: All the Accused REFUSED TO PLEAD.

For the Crown: Mr. J. Robinson.

For the Defence: All the Accused – IN PERSON.

Transcribers: Mesdames: McKenzie, Kuhn, Sykes & Vos.

Interpreter: Douglas Rasmen.

[…]

Cross-examination of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe

The Court. You are the Accused No. 1 in this case?

Sobukwe. Yes, Your Worship.

The Court. Yes – you may carry on now.

Sobukwe. I am president of the Pan-Africanist Congress, elected to that position unanimously at the inaugural convention of the Pan-Africanist Congress … For the same reason, thinking on a continental level, we stand for government of the Africans, by the Africans, for the Africans, with everybody who owes his only allegiance to the Continent of Africa and is prepared to accept the democratic rule of an African majority being regarded as an African. Our analysis of the South African situation has led us to the conclusion that we can best achieve our objectives by clearly defining our ultimate goals and drawing up a programme of action which we shall faithfully pursue instead of reacting to the legislation of the White Parliament as it flows from that Parliament. We decided to bring about the immediate abolition of the Pass Laws because that was the immediate needs of the African people. That was their demand. Before I proceed with the present case, Your Worship, I would like to give a picture of the structure of our organisation. Right at the bottom of the organisation, forming the nucleus so to speak of the organisation, are the general members of the Pan-Africanist Congress, fifteen or more of them constituting a branch. Each branch elects a Branch Executive.

Mr. Speaker Sir, Sons and Daughters of Afrika. Just over three months ago, on the 6th April, we met in the Communal Hall in Orlando, Johannesburg, to launch the ship of freedom – the Pan Africanist Congress. On that historic day the African people declared total war against white domination, not only in South Africa but throughout the continent. On that day there entered into the maelstrom of South African politics an organisation dedicated to the cause of African emancipation and independence; an organisation committed to the overthrow of white supremacy and the establishment of an Africanist Socialist Democracy.

Oppressed versus oppressor

It is just over three months that the Pan Africanist Congress has been born, but within that short space of time she has successfully pinpointed the basic assumptions in our struggle, namely that:

• 1. The illiterate and semi-literate masses of the African people are the key to, the core and cornerstone of the struggle for democracy in this country.

• 2. African nationalism is the only liberatory creed that can weld these masses who are members of heterogeneous tribes into a solid, disciplined and united fighting force; provide them with loyalty higher than that of the tribe and give formal expression to their desire to be a nation.

• 3. The struggle in South Africa is part of the greater struggle throughout the continent for the restoration to the African people of the effective control of their land. The ultimate goal of our struggle, therefore, is the formation of a United States of Afrika.

These pronouncements have struck a responsive chord in the hearts of the Sons and Daughters of the land, and awakened the imagination of the youth of our land while giving hope to the aged who for years have lived in the trough of despair. Indeed, the aged can now truly say:

The issues are clear-cut. The Pan Africanist Congress has done away with equivocation and clever talk. The decks are cleared, and in the arena of South African politics there are today only two adversaries: the oppressor and the oppressed; the master and the slave. We are on the eve of a continental showdown between the forces of evil and the forces of righteousness; the champions of oppression and the champions of freedom.

This interview was conducted by Gail Gerhart, who at that time was a graduate student at Columbia University. It took place during the mornings of 8 and 9 August 1970, in a rental car on the outskirts of Kimberley. Because of police surveillance and Sobukwe's banning order, no notes were made during the course of the interview. Gerhart audio-recorded her best recollection of what was said immediately after the meeting.

Gerhart. When did you first become interested in politics?

Sobukwe. My first awareness of politics was in 1948 at Fort Hare when I took a course in Native Administration. This course was taught by Ntloko and there was a text by Hanley(?). I had always known most of the facts as such, for example that Africans had three representatives in Parliament, but up to then I had merely accepted these as facts which one had to learn, to memorize, without thinking of their implications. During this course I began to realize what the reality was, for example that these white MPs had no effect on policy, in spite of the fact that they were eloquent speakers.

Ntloko was an AAC man, and the AAC was very influential at Fort Hare in those days. Most of us agreed with what the AAC stood for, except we didn't like the fact that they were not African nationalists. The Nationalists’ victory in 1948 helped politicize me.

Godfrey Pitje and I started the Youth League at Fort Hare. Pitje was the one who had had a connection with the early Youth League in the Transvaal. He was our link. He had known Lembede.

Gerhart. Did Pitje give you documents drawn up by the early Youth League, or statements of Lembede?

Sobukwe. No, we never saw these. We drew up our own documents. It was all conveyed to us through conversation and discussion.

Gerhart. Did you favor the efforts in the late 1940s to reunite the AAC with the ANC?

Sobukwe. Yes, very strongly. We wanted total unity, though; not a federation. We always felt that federations were inherently weak. This was also the case with the Africanists later when Madzunya's group wanted to federate with us. We wanted unity, not a federation.

Joe Thloloe was one of the founding members of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), having joined at the time of the November 1958 break with the African National Congress. Thloloe played a crucial part in the anti-pass campaign of 1960 which led to the Sharpeville Massacre and which resulted in his imprisonment. He was incarcerated first at Stoneyard Prison in Boksburg and then at the Stofberg Prison in the northern Free State, where, with fellow PAC detainees, he was exposed to many of the harshest disciplinary measures of the apartheid system. It was during prison that Thloloe turned to journalism.

After release, Thloloe worked at The World and then at the Rand Daily Mail as the first black journalist of the township edition; a second period of incarceration followed the Soweto Uprising in 1976. Thloloe was banned under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1981 and arrested and imprisoned several more times by the apartheid government. In 1988 Thloloe was appointed the managing editor of The Sowetan.

Thloloe served as chairman of the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and president of the Union of Black Journalists and Media Workers Association of South Africa. He was the South African Press Ombudsman from August 2007 to January 2013. In 2012 he was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga for his contribution to the liberation struggle, literary writing and journalism.

Thloloe was a long-time associate of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, and it is his memories of Sobukwe and the early days of the PAC that form the focus of this interview, conducted in 2014.

Hook. Joe, you were a member of the PAC, if I understand correctly, very early on? 1959?

Thloloe. I joined in 1958, on the 2nd of November 1958. That's the day the Africanists broke away from the ANC.

Hook. What was the feeling among the PAC people at that time? I mean it must have been one of excitement and enthusiasm?

Thloloe. What had happened was that there was the Transvaal Congress of the ANC, and it started on the Friday night with Luthuli giving an address to the Congress.