S A SCHOLAR and REVOLUTIONARY leader so POWERFUL, INTELLIGENT, ELOQUENT and CHARISMTIC that the European colonists chose to negotiate with Nelson Mandela over him. The mastermind behind the 21 March 1960 march.
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was born in Graaff-Reinet, in the then Cape Province ( now known as the Eastern Cape) to a Xhosa mother and Sotho father. He was the youngest of five boys and one girl. He attended Lovedale and later went to Fort Hare in the 40s. There he meet Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and other comrades. In the 50's he became critical of the ANC's liberal policies such as the notorious "Freedom Charter" towards the settler, genocidal segregationist state of South Africa.
In 1959, he broke away and formed his own political movement known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). At the annual conference in Durban, the acting president, Chief Albert Luthuli declared 1960 as the "Year of the Passes." The following week, PAC announced its own anti-pass campaign. Early in 1960, the ANC and PAC work to mobilise the masses around the OBJECTIVE to oppose the injust pass system. The slogan was "NO BAIL! NO DEFENCE! NO FINE! The PAC argued if thousands of masses were arrested and jails filled, then the WHOLE country will come to a standstill. The 21 March 1960, was set at the date. Africans around the country took to streets and there were marches. Some didn't show up for work and burnt their passes. Around 13h15, the first gun sound was heard and more than 10 minutes later, 69 were died and more than 200 were seriously wounded. The protest changed the history of the country forever. Sadly, Sobukwe died while in solitary confinement in Robben Island in 1978. He left behind his wife, Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe and four children. It's worth to quote him, "The wheel of progress revolves relentlessly
and all the nations of the world take their turn at the field-glass of human destiny. Africa will not retreat! Africa will not compromise! Africa will not relent! Africa will not equivocate! And she will be heard! Remember Africa!" siyawufuna umhlaba wethu - Izwe lethu!!!!
REFERENCES:
1. www.sahistory.org.za/topic/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960
2. biography.yourdictionary.com/robert-mangaliso-sobukwe
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