Pan Africanist Congress of Azania

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
President	Alton Mphethi
Chairperson	Bishop Waters Toboti
Secretary-General	Narius Moloto
Founder	Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe
Slogan	Izwe Lethu!! Our Land!!
Founded	6 April 1959 (1959-04-06)
Split from	African National Congress
Headquarters	10th Floor, Marble Towers, cnr Eloff & Marshall Streets, Johannesburg, Gauteng[1]
Student wing	Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania
Youth wing	Pan Africanist Youth Congress of Azania
Women's wing	Pan Africanist Women's Organisation
Paramilitary wing	Azanian People's Liberation Army (formerly)
Ideology	Pan-Africanism, Black nationalism, African socialism
Political position	Left-wing
National Assembly seats	1 / 400
Party flag
Website
www.pac.org.za
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (once known as the Pan Africanist Congress, abbreviated as the PAC) is a South African Black Nationalist movement, and is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that broke away from the African National Congress (ANC).^[2]

History

The PAC was formally launched on 6 April 1959 at Orlando Communal Hall in Soweto. A number of African National Congress (ANC) members broke away because they objected to the substitution of the 1949 Programme of Action with the Freedom Charter adopted in 1955. Further they objected to the inclusion of other national groups such as the Communist Party of South Africa. Robert Sobukwe was elected as the first president, and Potlako Leballo as the Secretary General.

On 21 March 1960, the PAC organised a campaign against pass laws. People gathered in the townships of Sharpeville and Langa where Sobukwe and other top leaders were arrested and later convicted for incitement. Sobukwe was sentenced to three years and Potlako Leballo to two years in prison. Sobukwe died in Kimberley, Cape Province, 1978 of lung cancer. Immediately after the Sharpeville massacre the National Party Government banned both the ANC and PAC on 8 April 1960. The PAC responded by founding its armed wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Army.

Ideology

The PAC followed the idea that the South African Government should be constituted by the African people owing their allegiance only to Africa, as stated by Sobukwe in the inaugural speech of the PAC:

"We aim, politically, at government of the Africans by the Africans, for the Africans, with everybody who owes his only loyalty to Africa and who is prepared to accept the democratic rule of an African majority being regarded as an African."^[3]

It is Pan Africanism with three principles of African nationalism, socialism, and continental unity. Its body of ideas drew largely from the teachings of Anton Lembede, George Padmore, Marcus Garvey, Martin Delany, Kwame Nkrumah, and W. E. B. Du Bois.

Leadership struggles

In recent times, the PAC has been beset by infighting and has had numerous changes of leadership. In August 2013, the PAC elected Alton Mphethi as president, after previous leader Letlapa Mphahlele was expelled in May amidst allegations of attempting to cause division in the party, financial impropriety and poor quality leadership.^[4][5]

A faction of the PAC continued to regard Mphahlele as leader. The matter was resolved in the courts, with Mpheti eventually being confirmed as party leader for the 2014 election.^[6][7]

Mpheti has since been charged with murder for the death of a Swazi national, Mthunzi Mavundla.^[8]

Luthando Mbinda was elected president at the 2014 congress in Botshabelo, while Letlapa Mphahlele was elected in July 2015 in Manguang. Mbinda claimed that Mphahlele's election was not valid, as he was not a valid member, while Mphahlele is challenging his expulsion in court.

while, who was expelled alongside others two years ago, was unlawfully elected president last weekend in Mangaung. That gathering “was not a PAC congress, expelled members cannot hold a congress”, said Mbinda, adding that while Mphahlele was challenging his expulsion in court, this matter had yet to be finalised.

In the meantime, the Independent Electoral Commission has suspended the party's statutory fund’s allocations until there is clarity about who leads the party. ^[9]

Election results

National elections

Provincial elections

Municipal elections

See also

• Azanian National Youth Unity
• Azanian People's Liberation Army
• Freedom Charter
• History of South Africa

References

External links

• Official Website of the Pan Africanist Congress
• Pan Africanist Congress Publications Collection 1958-1995
• Archival Information can be found at the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York: Congress of South Africa

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