Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe: “The Suppressed African Revolutionary” Passes On

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe: “The Suppressed African Revolutionary” Passes On

On 27 February 1978, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (54) passed on in the Kimberley General Hospital. Sobukwe died of lung complications after having been hospitalised in 1977. His medical doctors requested that he should be granted freedom of movement on humanitarian grounds, as he was banned to Galeshewe Township, Kimberley, but it was turned down by the apartheid authorities.

Sobukwe was born in Graaff-Reinet in the Cape Province on 5 December 1924. He attended a Methodist college at Healdtown and later went to study at Fort Hare University. At Fort Hare, where generations of young Black South Africans were exposed to politics, he joined the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in 1948. The organisation had been established on the university campus by Godfrey Pitje, who later became its president. In 1949, Sobukwe was elected as the first president of the Fort Hare Students’ Representative Council (SRC), where he proved himself to be an effective orator.

In 1950, Sobukwe was appointed as a teacher at a high school in Standerton, a position he lost when he spoke out in favour of the Defiance Campaign in 1952. He was, however, reinstated. During this period he was not directly involved with mainstream ANC activities, but still held the position of secretary of the organisation’s branch in Standerton. In 1954, after moving to Johannesburg Sobukwe became a lecturer of African Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. During his time in Johannesburg he edited “The Africanist” newspaper and soon began to criticise the ANC for allowing itself to be dominated by what he termed “liberal-left-multi-racialists”. He strongly believed in non-racialism. He was an ardent supporter of Africanist views about liberation in South Africa and rejected the idea of working with Whites.

Sobukwe identified with the Africanists within the ANC and in 1957 he left the ANC, as the Africanists later formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and was elected its first President in 1959. On 21 March 1960, the PAC led a nationwide protest against the hated Pass Law which required black people to carry a pass book at all times. Sobukwe led a march to the local police station at Orlando, Soweto, in order to openly defy the laws. He was joined en route by a few followers and, after presenting his pass to a police officer, he purposely made himself guilty under the terms of the Pass Law of being present in a region/area other than that allowed as per his papers. In a similar protest on the same day in Sharpeville, police opened fire on a crowd of PAC supporters, killing 69 in the legendary Sharpeville Massacre.

Following his arrest, Sobukwe was charged with and convicted of incitement, and was sentenced to three years in prison. After serving his sentence, he was interned on Robben Island. The new General Law Amendment Act was passed, allowing his imprisonment to be renewed annually at the discretion of the Minister of Justice. This procedure became known as the “Sobukwe clause” and kept Sobukwe in prison for a further six years. Sobukwe was the only person imprisoned under this clause. He was kept in solitary confinement but permitted certain privileges including books, newspapers, civilian clothes, bread, etc. He lived in a separate area on the island where he was strictly prohibited from contact with other prisoners. Sobukwe studied during this time and received (among others) a degree in economics from the University of London.

Sobukwe was released in 1969 and was allowed to live in Kimberley with his family, but remained under house arrest, where he could easily be monitored by the state. He was also restricted through a banning order, which disallowed political activities. Sobukwe completed his law degree and he then started his own practice in 1975 in Kimberley. Due to lung cancer, Sobukwe was hospitalised in 1977. He died on 27 February 1978, and was buried in Graaf-Reinet on 11 March 1978. The day, 27 February, is now celebrated by the PAC and related movements as “Sobukwe Day”.

According to Brown Bavusile Maaba, “Sobukwe was regarded as a strong proponent of an Africanist future for South Africa and opposed political collaboration with anyone other than Africans, defining ‘African’ as anyone who lives in and pays allegiance to Africa and who is prepared to subject themselves to African majority rule” (quoted in Wikipedia). Benjamin Pogrund, author of “Robert Sobukwe: How Can Man Die Better”, writing in 2015, noted: “South Africa has not been kind to Robert Sobukwe. The magnitude of his deeds and beliefs is largely ignored. The African National Congress in government has done much to airbrush him out of the freedom struggle. He is seldom referred to” (quoted in Nick Dall, Al Jazeera).

In his own words, Sobukwe said, “For the lasting peace of Afrika and the solution of the economic, social and political problems of the continent, there needs be a democratic principle. This means that White supremacy, under whatever guise it manifests itself, must be destroyed. And that is what the nationalists on the continent are setting out to do. They all are agreed that the African majority must rule. In the African context, it is the overwhelming African majority that will mould and shape the content of democracy” (Sobukwe speech, 1959).

It is very sad that the ideas and writings of Sobukwe cannot be easily shared generally and towards the reconfiguration of the South African and the continental discourses. It is obvious that what Sobukwe advocated was essentially feared by the racist apartheid regime, to such an extent that his ideas were suppressed by all means necessary, including isolating him from other prisoners in Robben Island and subjecting him to various banning orders and house arrests. It is critical that his writings in publications, such as “The Africanist” newspaper, should be revisited and be put together as his collected works.

Sources:
Wikipedia.
South African History Online (SAHO).
Robert Sobukwe, “Robert Sobukwe Inaugural Speech April 1959”, South African History Online Archives, 18 April 2012.
Nick Dall, “Robert Sobukwe, the South African leader once as revered as Mandela”, Al Jazeera, 30 November 2024.
Grahame Hayes, “In Search of the Missing Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe”, Research Gate, 22 October 2024.
Baruch Hirson, “Review Article: Sobukwe and the PAC”, South African History Online (SAHO).
Wits University, “Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Citation”, Wits University.

Castro Khwela
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