Government and Justice
He was the lover of Africa, which was planted in the soul of his heart, and that in all things political and humanitarian, he eulogised the values of Mother Africa. These matters were central to his life.
Although death came soon, at just 53, on February 27, 1978, and brought with it much sadness and sorrow to the world and to his followers, his work of pan-Africanism became expanse and seminal and testimonial. It also became a living organism, evolving as it did, but never to depart from its core value of placing an Africanist ideal at the centre of all what Africanists ought to do for Africa – to serve her by serving her people, and not corrupting her.
This is a description of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), an academic, a teacher, a lawyer, an economist and a methodist preacher.
To write a credible story about the man you need the wisdom of credible men and women who knew Sobukwe well. Journalist and former trade unionist, editor and former Robben Island prisoner, Joe Thloloe, knew him well.
He regaled us with stories of “the Prof” as the man of the people, remembering the days, at the Park Station concourse, when the great man of learning would be seen playing a game of morabaraba with ordinary folks, and sharing jokes and stories with them.
Said Thloloe, he would never be seen travelling first class, but always on a third-class rail coach, this so that he could get closer to the working class, and not be alienated from them. These were the people he loved with a passion, and were his friends, in need and indeed.
A great raconteur of note, and man with a great sense of humour. A decent and respectful human being.
Stories abound about him that in his legal practice, in Galeshewe, Kimberely, many of his clients were greeted with joy by this erudite lawyer and humanitarian who would tell many of his clients: “I do it for God.” By that, he meant to say, “I offer my legal services to you free of charge, pro Deo or pro bono.”
A friend of mine recalls how when he told Sobukwe he was employed by a company in Germiston, Gauteng, by the name of African Products, upon which he retorted: “What kind of Africans do you produce in your firm?
The man answered, “No Sir, we do not produce Africans, we produce food products, upon which Sobukwe, with a guffaw, remarked: “You ought to produce more Africans who love Africa.”
That was the man who Sobukwe was, a simple man of the people, whose status as a man of integrity and commitment to an African cause was manifest when he left a well-paying job as a lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand, to lead the PAC of Azania at its nascent stages, with no guarantee of any income commensurate with what he earned as an academic.
The March 21, 1960, anti-pass laws protests, which would be known as Sharpeville massacre following the mowing down of 69 protesters by the apartheid police, owe their origin to Sobukwe’s leadership.
The Sharpeville incident was to instigate a revolution in which the injustices of the apartheid rule would be challenged and put to the test.
Sobukwe was central to it all.
Sobukwe is dead, and has been in his grave for 45 years, but he lives. His memory continues to inspire his followers, and the world.
He described an Africanist “as anyone who lives and pays allegiance to Africa and who is prepared to subject themselves to African majority rule”.
Anyone can be Africanists, and by extrapolation, this must suggest that even a white person, from a foreign land, could become an African, if only they subscribe and pay allegiance to Africa.
So, this week we remember “the Prof” who would have turned 99 on December 5. He belongs not to death. He belongs to the people of this country, and the world, for stirring the revolution that would give the country a new life after years of racial oppression.
- Mdhlela is the acting news editor of Sunday World, an Anglican priest and former editor of the South African Human Rights Commission journals
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