Collection of prison writings provides a peek into the suffering of liberation icon, writes Derek Hook
11 March 2019 - 05:03The founder of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. Picture: MIKE MZILENI
Sobukwe, who clearly knew about suffering, loneliness and the impossibility of ever fully communicating one’s pain to another, was writing just after the death of Marquard’s husband, the noted Cape liberal, author and historian Leo Marquard. Touching as this acknowledgement of his contribution would have been for Marquard, the real poignancy of Sobukwe’s letter comes a little further on, when he starts speaking of the myriad difficulties he faced after leaving Robben Island, where most of SA’s liberation struggle leaders were jailed.It has not been a good year for me. I had planned to leave [from Kimberley] … by car on the 31st May and make straight for Cape Town. But these boys [apartheid security police] beat me to it.
Sobukwe continues: “Veronica [Sobukwe’s wife] has had a major operation as you probably read in the papers. She should have had this operation last year, but did not and the condition got worse. She has made a remarkable recovery, thanks to my very efficient and tender nursing, and has now gone back to Joburg for a checkup. From there she will be in Durban to spend a week or so with her sister before proceeding to Swaziland to see the children.
Not content that by May 3 1963 Sobukwe would have served his sentence, the apartheid government passed an amendment to the General Law Amendment Act, the notorious “Sobukwe clause”, which enabled the minister of justice to prolong the detention of any political prisoner year after year. They repeatedly refused to allow him to leave the country to take up job offers he had received from the US; and they obstructed his attempts to get the medical treatments that he needed, and that would have extended his life .
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Letters reveal Robert Sobukwe's moral courage, and painDespite the fact that he makes light of it, one senses in Robert Sobukwe's letter that the constant surveillance and harassment of the security police was taking its toll.
Read more »
Ipid staff ‘saddened’ by Robert McBride’s depatureIpid acting head Victor Senna Senna says their investigations into police corruption won’t be affected by Robert McBride’s departure.
Read more »
Robert McBride won't give up on fightRobert McBride is taking the decision not to renew his contract on review.
Read more »
Robert Kubica is taking nothing for granted in F1 comeback“We take everything for granted. And then once you don’t have it, you start realising how lucky you were.”
Read more »
Ramaphosa’s silence on Robert McBride shows weaknessA true democrat, a true leader, would stand up to the faction in his party that wants McBride gone.
Read more »
Home Affairs tells man to come back with his dead motherRobert Masuku has been voting since 1994 but is registered as an illegal immigrant.
Read more »
Williams have a better car than last year, says LoweThe former champions finished last in 2018 and have a new driver lineup for this year with Britain's Formula Two champion George Russell making his debut and joined by Poland's Robert Kubica.
Read more »
ANALYSIS: Robert McBride: Caught in the jaws of State Capture, adrift in the present while captive of the pastIt was the ruthless and violent application of unjust laws by the apartheid state on the black majority that drove Robert McBride into the arms of the underground structures of the ANC. It is now the shameless disregard of the law by an ANC led by Jacob Zuma – until recently - that has driven the former IPID head to lead one flank of the onslaught of the bitter dismantling of Zuma’s sprawling State Capture political project. The party McBride killed and was sentenced to death for has turned against him. Why?
Read more »
SA needs a leader of Sobukwe’s calibreCOMMENT: The enduring power of Robert Sobukwe’s ideas, the moral authority of his political leadership is transcendent and offers moral leadership insights. But he remains marginalised in today’s discourses and celebrations of political leadership.
Read more »