Pan Africanist Congress timeline 1959-2011

In 1959 the Africanists broke away from the ANC and formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The histories of these two organisations are inextricably linked. This month (September) marks 50 years since Poqo, the armed wing of the PAC, was established in South Africa to form cells and commence work towards the armed struggle in 1961

1959

4-6 April, An Africanist group who broke away from the African National Congress holds its first national meeting in Johannesburg at the Orlando community hall under the banner “Africanist Liberation Congress”. Banners written Pan africanist slogans such as Africa for the Africans, Cape to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar, ‘Izwe lethu I Africa’ (Africa our land) were lined on the walls of the hall. An estimated 400 delegates from across the country attended the meeting. Zephaniah Mothopeng a member of the group’s National Working Committee chairs the meeting.

6 April, The party adopts the name Pan Africanist Congress of South Africa (PAC) and its first Executive Committee is elected:

• President Robert Mangaliso Sobukhwe
• Secretary Potlake Kitchener Leballo
• Treasurer Abednego Ngcobo
• National Organizer Elliot Mfaxa.
• Secretary for Pan African Affairs Peter Molotsi
• Secretary for Foreign Affairs Selby Ngedane
• Secretary for Publicity and Information ZB Molete
• Secretary for Education Peter Raboroko
•  Secretary for Culture Nana Mahomo
• Secretary for Labour  Jacob D Nyaose
• Secretary for Finance and Economic Development Hughes Hlatshwayo
• Additional Members Zephaniah Mothopeng, Howard S Ngcobo, CJ Fazzie and MG Maboza.
• Dr Peter Ntsele, who contested for the presidency of the PAC and lost the election to Robert Sobukhwe breaks away to form his own party, the Pan African Freedom Movement (PAFM).

October, The Federation of Free Trade Unions of South Africa (FOFATUSA), a trade union affiliated to the PAC is formed.

1960

The Pan African Freedom Movement (PAFM) collapses after the death of its leader Dr Peter Ntsele.

George Rebone Moffat joins the PAC in Atterdgeville aged 16 just after the Sharpeville Massacre.

March, Nana Mohomo and Peter Molotski are appointed as external PAC representatives.

16 March, Robert Sobukwe writes to the commissioner of police, Major General Rademeyer, stating that the PAC would be holding a five-day, non-violent, disciplined and sustained protest campaign against pass laws, starting on 21 March.

19 March, Sobukhwe announces that the PAC would embark on a campaign against the pass laws from Monday 21 March. He called on people to leave their passes at home and present themselves peacefully at police stations for arrest.

The Alexandra branch of the PAC dissociates itself from the campaign, through its chairman Josias Madzunya. He is subsequently expelled from the party by Robert Sobukhwe.

20 March, Nana Mohomo and Peter Molotsi are instructed by the PAC leadership to leave the country and establish the PAC links in exile. They were tasked with raising funds for the establishment of a basic structure in Maseru, setting up missions in Ghana, England and Egypt.

21 March, The PAC leads a peaceful anti pass march and local PAC leaders first gathered at Sharpeville police station chanting slogans "Izwe lethu" (Our land),  "Awaphele amapasti" (Down with passes). The police open fire on demonstrators killing 69 and injuring 180 others in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre.  Protests spread to other parts of the country.

Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd announces that 132 members of the PAC, including Robert Sobukwe, are being held in Johannesburg and are to be charged with sedition.

23 March, Robert Sobukwe, president of the PAC, and P.K Leballo, its national secretary, as well as 11 others are charged with incitement to riot.

24 March, The Regional Secretary General of the PAC Philip Kgosana who is also a student at the University of Cape Town and 101 people from Langa hand themselves over to the police for arrest at Caledon Square. Leaders of the march are detained and released on the same day.

25 March, In Cape Town, between 2000 and 5000 people march to Caledon Square to surrender their passbooks led by Kgosana and Clarence Makwetu who was the Secretary of the PAC for New Flats branch.

25 March, The Minister of Justice suspends passes throughout the country.

28 March, Chief Albert Luthuli of the ANC announces a day of mourning for victims of the Sharpeville and Langa Massacres.

28 March, The funeral for the victims of those killed in the Langa anti pass demonstrations is held with an estimated attendance of 5000 people.

30 March, Phillip Kgosana led PAC supporters of between 30 000 to 50 000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the police headquarters at Caledon Square in Cape Town. 

30 March, The South African government declares a state of emergency and begins detaining people

18 April, The Unlawful Organizations Act is introduced and bans both the PAC and the ANC and any other organization that propagates their aims. This results in the crackdown of political activists across political parties. As a result detention of many leading figures in the party follows and PAC offices in Johannesburg are closed.

May, The South African United Front (SAUF) is formally launched in London. The SAUF was an attempt to unite liberation movements in South African to speak with one voice. Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi represented the PAC, Oliver Tambo and Yusuf Dadoo represented the ANC, Jarientundu Kozonguizi represented the South West African National Union (SWANU) and the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) joined later. 

August, ZB Molote who was detained by the government under the state of emergency regulations is released and becomes acting president of the PAC until August 1962.

31 August, The government lifts the State of Emergency decreed on 30 March in the wake of anti pass protests.

September, ZB Molete’s appointment as president of the PAC by Robert Sobukwe becomes effective.  

8 December, Letlapa Mphahle leader of the PAC is born Rosenkranz in Northern Transvaal.

1961

29 March, Phillip Kgosana arrives in Dar-es-Salaam after skipping the country via Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana.

Joe Molefi and ZB Molote leave South Africa to exile in Lesotho in order to avoid arrest.

September, Poqo (pure/ alone) an armed wing of the PAC is established in South Africa to form cells and commence work towards the armed struggle.  The name had the translation of the Pan Africanist Congress as ‘Umbutho wama Afrika Poqo’ (the organisation of Africanists or ‘undiluted’ or ‘pure’).

1962

16/17 March 1962, A group of Poqo operatives attack a police vehicle in Langa Township killing one African policeman,  Moyi and injuring five other people. The vehicle was set on fire and destroyed.

25 August, Robert Sobukwe writes a letter appointing Potlako Leballo to act as president of the PAC.

August, The PAC establishes itself in Lesotho and officially opens in Bonhomme House in Maseru after the arrival of Potlako Leballo from South Africa. Leballo takes over from ZB Molete as President of the PAC.

Matthew Nkoana, the head of the PAC’s underground in South Africa moves to Botswana and becomes the party’s representative in that country.

September, the PAC convenes a Presidential Council in Maseru which endorses the appointment of Leballo as acting president, John Nyathi Pokela as Secretary, M Gqobose as a member of the Presidential Council, ZB Molete as Secretary for Publicity and Information, Zephaniah Mothopeng as Acting National Treasurer and E Mfaxa as National Organizer.

October, Leballo travels to London and New York where he addressed the United Nations. He also meets with PAC representatives in exile.

16 October, Gwebindlala Gqoboza a headman in the Transkei is killed by Poqo operatives. The war against headmen was aimed at those who were perceived to be assisting the apartheid government in dispossessing people of their land.

22 November, A group of 250 men carrying axes, pangas and other self made weapons leave Mbekweni Township and march to Paarl. The group divides itself into two with one band marching to the town’s prison to release fellow comrades in detention and the other to attack the police station. This results in clashes with the police and the death of five Poqo members, namely Godfrey Yekiso, Madodana Camagu, John Magigo, Ngenisile Siqwebo. The Paarl rebellion was violently put down when police reinforcements were sent from Cape Town to assist.

23 November, Matthews Mayezana Mali is shot dead by the South African Police while leading a march of PAC supporters to the Paarl police station in order to hand over a list of grievances.

7 December, Justice H. Snyman appointed to head the Commission of Inquiry into the 1962 Paarl Revolt begins collecting evidence through hearings.

12 December, Armed Poqo members are intercepted by the police on Ntlonze Hill while they were on their way to attack Chief Kaiser Matanzima. A battle ensues and 7 Poqo operatives are killed and 3 policemen are seriously injured.

Johnson Mlambo arrives in the PAC underground headquarters in Maseru where he receives instructions on organising and preparing for the planned uprising of 1963.

1963

February, Five white people are killed by Poqo members at Mbashe Bridge near Umtata while sleeping in caravans. This resulted in the arrest of 23 members of the organization who were sentenced to death and hanged.

24 March, Leballo makes a press statement declaring that the PAC and Poqo would launch an attack on the South African government with an army of 150 000 cadres.

29 March, Two PAC women couriers, Cynthia Lichaba and Thabisa Lethala sent by Leballo from Lesotho to post letters in Ladybrand, a South African town close Lesotho are captured by the police. The letters contained instructions and details of Poqo cadres. This exposes a number of underground Poqo activists leading to their subsequent arrest.

1 April, The British Colonial police raid PAC offices in Lesotho seizing a number of documents with details of PAC activists and their operations. This results in the imprisonment of more activists.  

8 April, Police arrest scores of Poqo supporters before the planed uprising on this date took place. 

Ahmed Cassiem is arrested for PAC activities and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment which he serves on Robben Island.

May, The Sobukhwe Clause is passed in parliament enabling the government to detain anyone guilty of incitement. This Clause was invoked repeatedly until 1968 to keep Sobukhwe in detention.

June,  PAC member Jeff Kgalabi Masemola is charged together with 14 other people in the Pretoria Supreme Court with conspiracy to commit sabotage. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Patrick Duncan, a former member of the Liberal Party of South Africa becomes the only white member of the PAC after joining the party in exile.

June, Nana Mohomo and Patrick Duncan travel to the United States of America to raise funds and campaign for anoil embargo on South Africa.

25 June, Justice H. Snyman submits his final report on the Paarl Revolt to parliament. He recommended passing legislation which would be applied retroactively to deal with political threats.

November, The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FLNA) temporality gives the PAC a military training camp in Kikunzu in Congo where its first group of guerrilla recruits undergo military training.  The training was code named ‘Tape Recorder’ and organised by Nana Mahomo.

Johnson Phillip Mlambo is arrested and charged with sabotage and plotting to overthrow the apartheid government. He is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and sent to Robben Island where he serves his sentence. 

November, TT Letlaka, the chairman of the PAC in the Transkei Region is co opted to the Presidential Council.   

1964

The PAC moves its headquarters from Lesotho to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

July, The PAC visits China for the first time. Subsequently, the Chinese made other financial donations to party in August and October.  

August, Leballo in a South African chartered aircraft stops over in Johannesburg and his plane is heavily guarded by the South African government, but the aircraft is allowed to proceed. This raised suspicions about Leballo and his connections to the apartheid regime as it was assumed that the government would have arrested the leader of a banned organization on its soil. 

August, Nana Mohomo is charged with the misappropriation of donor funds meant for PAC refuges. 

1965

A group of PAC recruits are sent to China for military training.

May, JD Nyaose leads a delegation to China where finances were donated to fund activities of the PAC.

12 August, JD Nyaose, a founding member of the PAC and president of FOFATUSA is expelled from the party after attending the Indonesian Independence celebrations as a representative of FOFATUSA. Nyaose unsuccessfully challenged his expulsion.

The PAC suspends members of the party based in Botswana. 

1966

John Nyathi Pokela is sentenced to imprisonment on Robben Island for his role in the PAC’s armed wing Poqo for its anti apartheid political activities.

March, The South African Coloured People’s Congress dissolves to join PAC.

21 March, As a result of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, the United Nations General Assembly declares this day ‘International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’.

PAC members in Mbeya, a PAC camp in Tanzania raised concerns about the party’s leadership.  

April, 30 Poqo members accused of sabotage and conspiracy to murder warders are held in Gamkaspoort prison. 

June, Seven Poqo members are sentenced at a court in Port Elizabeth for allegedly conspiring to blow up municipal buildings and railway bridges.

1967

Vuyani Mgaza leading member of Poqo in East London who later became the PAC’s representative in Nigeria leaves the country for exile. This was after he was arrested and detained twice for his role in organising the planned Poqo uprising of 1963.

July, The OAU and ALC temporarily closes the PAC office in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania after AB Ngcobo and PN Raboroko attempt to seize control of the office despite resistance from some members of the party. This forces the PAC to convene a Unity Conference in Moshi, Tanzania with the support of the OAU and ALC.

September, Nyaose is reinstated and he is appointed to the National Executive Committee at the Unity Conference held in Moshi.

31 October, Four members of Poqo found guilty of murder following the 1960 PAC revolt and anti pass campaign are hanged.

1968

Twelve Poqo members stand trial for allegedly planning to attack a police station, power station and post office in Victoria West. 

The Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) is formed and succeeds Poqo as the armed wing of the PAC. Poqo members form the bedrock of APLA as they were deployed in various countries for training and establishing PAC offices. Gerald Kondlo was the first APLA commander. 

February, The OAU Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa warns the PAC that if there was no infiltration of soldiers into South Africa by June 1968, the PAC would lose its status as a recognised liberation movement and its funding would be withdrawn.

March, A press conference is held in Maseru. During the conference Leballo claimed that he would command 15 000 men trained in Lesotho to invade South Africa. His statement was issued just before the release of Robert Sobukhwe. As a consequence, the South African government assisted by Lesotho police arrested an estimated 10 000 suspected PAC supporters and members throughout the country.

May, The PAC launches ‘Operation Villa Piri’ where several members of APLA attempt to enter South Africa through Mozambique. Several members of the unit are killed including its commander Gerald Kondlo. 

August, Zambia bans the PAC and expels its leadership from the country.
The PAC adopts the name Azania and subsequently calls the organization the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania.

John Ganya and Zepahnia Mothopeng are released from prison and begin working on reviving activities the PAC and APLA in South Africa.

The PAC’s creates its Revolutionary Council.

1969

APLA activists operating in Graaf-Reinet and Mount Coke are sentenced for their involvement in coordinating the movement’s activities under pretext of being a religious organisation. 

May, Founder member and former president of the PAC Robert Sobukhwe is released from prison and banished to Galeshewe in Kimberley. In addition he is served with a five year banning order that restricts him to Kimberley and keeps him under house arrest between 6pm and 6 am. 

1971

PAC headquarters are moved from Lusaka in Zambia to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

22 June, The South African government denies Robert Sobukhwe a permit to leave South Africa and pursue hi studies in the United States of America.

1973

July, PAC members Mark Shinners, Isaac Mafatse and Hamilton Keke are released from Robben Island and begin recruiting youths to join the PAC in exile.

1974

Libya offers the PAC facilities for military training.

The PAC offers the Basotho Congress Party (BCP) facilities for training recruits of its armed wing the Lesotho Liberation army (LLA).  

21 March, The PAC and ANC are granted observer status by the Special Committee Against Apartheid.

May, The banning order imposed on Robert Sobukhwe expires, but is immediately renewed for another five years. 

November, the PAC successfully lobbies for the expulsion of South Africa from the United Nations General Assembly.

1975

A strategy document “New Road to Revolution” triggers ideological divisions within the PAC.

13 June, Sobukhwe is admitted as an attorney to practice in Kimberley. He studied for his law degree while he was under banning orders.

July, The Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Kampala, Uganda adopts as official policy a document compiled by the PAC which discredited the legitimacy of the South Africa government in international issues.  

October, APLA members begin training in Mkalampere, a territory disputed by South Africa and the Swaziland governments.

December, Sobukhwe is invited to attend the presidential celebrations of President William Tolbert in Monrovia, Liberia which would be held in January 1976.

14 December, PAC member Michael Matsobane organises the youth in Kagiso under the banner of the Young African Christian Movement (YACM). The movement later changed its name to the Young African Religious Movement (YARM). Together with other PAC members such as Johnson Nyathi and Aaron Khoza, they are elected to the executive committee.

1976

October, David Sibeko, the PAC’s representative addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

9 December, In the aftermath of the Soweto Uprising, the security police arrests members of the YARM.

1977

The women’s wing of the PAC reorganizes itself. 

November, Leballo instigates an uprising by new APLA recruits at Itumbi camp in Mbeya district in Tanzania. The rebellion was aimed at the High Command headed Templeton M Ntantala who was also the Deputy Chairman of the PAC. Residences of Central Committee members and the High Command were attacked. 

December, The PAC Central Committee convenes a meeting in attempt to find a solution to the tensions and develop a policy to manage cadres. The meeting resolves to convene a consultative conference in April 1978.

1978

Women’s wing of the PAC holds a seminar in Harare which is geared towards addressing women issues.

The PAC adopts the “New Road to Revolution” as a military strategy which remained in use until the unbanning of political parties. APLA was reorganized with assistance from the Tanzanian government.  

Three APLA operative are arrested in Krugersdorp after setting up an arms chache in the area.

January, 18 people are brought to trial and 86 others are named as co conspirators in what became known as the Bethal trial. Among the detained were leading members of the PAC including Zephaniah Mothopeng, Mark Shinners, Michael Matsobane, John Ganya and Hamilton Keke. Some of the Bethal trialists were being jailed for the second time as they served sentences in the state’s crackdown of the PAC in the 1960s. 

January, The PAC holds a central Committee meeting to prepare for the Consultative Conference in April.  During the meeting Leballo calls for the overthrow of the entire High Command in Tanzania and in South Africa. Subsequently Templeton Ntantala and other members of the PAC are expelled. A new leadership is appointed under Vusi Maake; the High Command is abolished and replaced by a Task Force.

27 February, Robert Mangaliso Sobukhwe founder member and former president of the PAC dies. 

12 March, At Sobukwe’s funeral held in Graaf Reinert, Chief Mangosuthu “Gatsha” Buthelezi is attacked by PAC supporters and taunted as a puppet of the apartheid government. One of the youths attempted to stab Buthelezi but was prevented by his Secretary, Eric Ngubane. In the end, Buthelezi left the service escorted by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu.

April, A Consultative Conference in held in Arusha in which the PAC endorses Leballo’s decision.   

1979

March, In Lesotho the PAC mission organises a service in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre. Exiled political formations invited include the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the newly established ANC 10 or ANC of Azania, a splinter group led by Tennyson Makiwane.

Five members of APLA, Mack Mboya, Synod Madlebe, Xola Mketi, Mawethu Vitshima and Sabelo Phama are arrested by the Transkei government.

1 May, Leballo is ousted as leader of the PAC.

29 August, Templeton Ntantala and other expelled military members of the PAC form the Azanian People’s Revolutionary Party (APRP).  

30 April - 1 May, PAC holds an extra ordinary session in Dar-es-Salaam where a Presidential Council is appointed and tasked with executing duties of the Vice President. The created structure had powers that exceeded those of the Revolutionary Council.  Amongst members in this structure were Vusi Maake, David Sibeko and Elias Ntloedile.

1 June, David Sibeko is shot at Sea View Flats in Dar-es-Salaam by Titus Soni (alias Joe) who is a former bodyguard of Leballo, the deposed PAC leader.  

August, Vusi Maake is appointed as the Chairperson of the PAC. 

Six APLA members Titus Soni, Daniel Monogotle, Gilbert Nhlapo, Abham Tatu, Reuben Zwane, James Hlongwane and Shindo Mahlangu are tried in a Tanzanian court and sentenced to 15 years in prison for murder of David Sibeko. The sentence is reduced to 10 years on appeal.

1980

Maake address PAC members in Dar-es-Salaam at the party’s residence in Ilala. Members urged Maake and his executive committee to drop DDD Mantshontsho the Administrative Secretary and Elias Ntloedibe the Secretary for Publicity and Information for what members termed “miserable failures”.  

1981

The Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU) the youth wing of the PAC is founded in Orlando East in Soweto with Arthur Moleko elected as its first president. AZANYU was to function as a vehicle to establish PAC underground structures and recruit the youth for military training.

February, Vusi Maake steps down as PAC Chairman and is succeeded by John Nyathi Pokela who also becomes the Commander in Chief of APLA. 

June, Pokela works to establish diplomatic PAC relations with other countries and visits Iraq. While on his visit, he openly expressed support of Iraq’s war against Iraq contrary to the party’s position on neutrality in war between two Non Aligned Movement countries.

February, An extraordinary Central Committee meeting in Dar-es-Salaam and revises the stricture of the Central Committee. Vusi Maake and Elizabeth Sibeko are removed from the committee. TM Ntantala and other expelled military members of the PAC were accepted back into the PAC.

October, Elizabeth Komikie Gumede a woman operative of APLA at 60 years of age was detained and kept in solitary confinement. Gumede and two of her comrades, John Ganya and Dr Nabboth Ntshuntsha operated an underground PAC unit that recruited people and sent them to neighbouring countries for military training and received them when they infiltrated the country.

November/December, The PAC’s Central Committee holds a meeting and resolves to authorize APLA to take action against ill disciplined members of the army.

1982

The Task Force which replaced the High Command is phased out and the High Command is re-established.

1983

20 June, PAC member Johnson Mlambo is released from Robben Island after serving 20 years in prison.

1985

The Azanian National Youth Unity is formed and revives PAC political activities inside South Africa by engaging in underground work.

March, Nearly 50 members of the PAC are expelled from Lesotho after the party’s relationship with the government sours.

March, Six PAC are killed in Qacha’s Neck by a para-militia as relations between the Pac and Lesotho government became increasingly strained.

10 March, Two PAC and APLA members Boniswa Ngcukana and Cassius Barnabus are killed members of the South African Defence Forces while crossing the border into Lesotho.

Joe Mkhwananzi the exiled PAC’s Administrative Secretary makes a submission to the International Conference on Peace and Security in Southern Africa held in Arusha Tanzania.

June, PAC guerrillas cross into South Africa from Botswana and are arrested on the same day in Johannesburg.

June, PAC leader John Pokela dies unexpectedly.  

12 August, Johnson Phillip Mlambo is elected chairman of the PAC at the extra ordinary session of the party’s Central Committee.

September, APLA deputy commander arrives in the Western Cape to begin reviving PAC structures.

22 September - 4 October, Mlambo leads a PAC delegation to China.

1986

A PAC publication claims that an APLA unit killed 10 policemen in five operations in Sharpeville. 

Zephaniah Mothopeng is elected president of the PAC while still serving his sentence of Robben Island.

April, Mlambo leads a PAC delegation to meet with the Group of Eminent Persons from the Commonwealth Secretariat in Dar-es-Salaam.

April, PAC attempts to send a contingent of guerrillas from Libyan training camps via Athens where they were to board an Air Zimbabwe flight to Harare. Greek immigration officials refuse to allow APLA members to board the plane.

December, the women’s wing tours Australia together with  Maxwell Nemadzivhanani the PAC’s  representative in that country and raised $10 486 for their cause.

1987

Andile Gushu, a member of the Azanian Youth Unity in Mbekweni Paarl is arrested and charged under the Internal Security Act.  Gushu has joined the PAC in Lesotho and was deployed in the Western Cape.

19 March, Mike Muendane, the PAC’s Secretary for Labour is suspended from the Central Committee, his role Secretary for Labour and all PAC activities for a period of 12 months. His portfolio was placed under the office of the party. He was replaced by Elizabeth Sibeko in the Central Committee and as Secretary for Labour. The suspension Muendane and other senior members of the PAC led to the formation of the “Sobukhwe Forum.”

22 April, APLA operatives attack a municipal police in Soweto with grenade killing one person and injuring 64 others. 

July, The PAC through Mlambo requests Mengistu Haile Mariam Chairman of the Provincial Military Administrative Council in Ethiopia training assistance for new recruits who had joined the party in exile in 1984.

August, Two APLA operatives Neo Khoza and Tsepo Lilele are shot and killed after a car chase in Johannesburg.

November, Mlungisi Lumphondo a member of the PAC’s youth wing the Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU) is convicted for the killing of a Ciskei consular official.

1988

The women’s wing of the PAC holds seminars which recommend the upgrading of the women’s wing to a full department of the party with a representative on the Central Committee.

The PAC in Dar-es-Salaam releases a position paper entitled “Some Considerations in Respect of the so-called Dialogue with the White Ruled South Africa through its Government.”

February, Delegates from the Media Workers Association of South Africa (MWASA), African Allied Workers (AAW), South African Black Municipal and Allied Workers, Union (SABMAWU) and African Women’s Organisation( AWO) join AZANYU on the Robert Sobukhwe Memorial Co-coordinating committee.

February, PAC leaders hold discussions with the National Council of Trade Unions delegation in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. 

November 1988, Zephaniah Mothopeng is released early from his 15-year prison sentence which he was serving on Robben Island.

1989

The PAC separates the position of the president and chairman of the party. Johnson Mlambo retains the executive functions of chairperson while Zephania Mothepeng became president.

Zephaniah Mothopeng is elected as the PAC’s president and Clarence Makwetu is elected as Vice President.

18-24 September, PAC Central Committee approves recommendations of the women’s wing that it should be upgraded to full department with a full time secretary who should be a member of the Central Committee. In addition, the PAC resolved that negotiations were still premature and would not achieve the goals of the struggle.

September, The PAC distances itself from the Harare Declaration adopted the OAU.

1-3 December, The Pan Africanist Movement (PAM) led by Clarence Makwetu is formed in South Africa as a popular mobilization vehicle for the PAC in the country. PAM endorsed the PAC’s position that there was no basis for negotiation.

15 October, Jeff Masemola, longest serving political prisoner on Robben Island, known for his art work during his period of imprisonment is released from prison. He had served 26 years. On the eve of his release, Mandela requested a meeting with him. 

1990

2 February, F.W De Klerk, the state president announces in parliament the unbanning of all liberation movements. 

13 March, Patricia de Lille an Executive member of the PAC reiterates a position of the party rejecting the negotiated settlement as “”¦there is nowhere in history where the oppressors have negotiated themselves out of power.”

19 April, Jeff Masemola dies in a car accident which the PAC felt was suspicious.  

11 June, Benny Alexander the Secretary General of the PAC unveils an economic policy document of the PAC, entitled: “The Economic Policy of the PAC: An exploratory, diagnostic and contingency exposition.” 

October, PAC anti apartheid stalwart Zephaniah Mothopeng dies.  

December, Clarence Makwetu is elected as president of the PAC and succeeds Mothopeng.

December, The OAU puts pressure on the PAC by advising the party to avoid the war rhetoric and give the negotiations time.

1991

August, APLA operatives Nkosinathi Mvinjane and Lulamile Khwankwa shoot a traffic officer, Simon Kungoane in Pimville Soweto.

1992

April, The PAC holds its Annual Congress with Clarence Makwetu as its president. He states that the party was not opposed to negotiations, but they should be held in a ‘neutral venue under a neutral chairman’. 

28 November, APLA operatives attack the King William’s Town Golf Club killing 4 people.

1993

The PAC joins the multi party negotiations.

22 March, One person is killed when APLA operatives attack the Yellowwoods Hotel in Fort Beaufort.

1 May, The Highgate Hotel in East London is attacked by members of the PAC’s armed wing APLA killing 5 people.

26 July, Members of APLA opened fire on a congregation in St James Church in Kenilworth, in Cape Town, killing 11 people and injuring fifty others.

2 November, Moven Mahachi the Minister of Defence in Zimbabwe facilitates talks between the APLA and representatives of the South African government in Harare. The PAC eventually agreed to end confrontation with the government.      

30 December, APLA operatives Luyanda Gqomfa, Zola Mabala and Vuyisile Madasi attack the Heidelberg Tavern in Observatory, Cape Town killing four people and injuring three others.

1994

14 February, The Crazy Beat Disco at Newcastle is attacked by APLA operatives resulting in the death one person and injury to others.

February, The PAC suspends the armed struggle.

11 March, APLA ambushes a minibus ferrying white teachers to the Mdantsane-based John Knox Bokwe College.

13 March, Members of APLA attack worshippers at the Baha'i Faith Mission at NU2 resulting in the death of Houshmand Anvari, Riaz Razavi and Dr Shamam Bakhshandegi.

28 March, A shootout between Self Defence Units (SDUs) and APLA cadres breaks out during a voter education campaign in Lusikisiki.

28 March, A bus ferrying 40 employees of the Da Gama Textiles is attacked by APLA guerrillas resulting in the death of a policeman and two guerrillas.

27 April, South African holds its first democratic elections. The PAC won 1.25% of the total votes. In addition, the party obtained 5 seats in the National Assembly.  

June, The integration of APLA into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) commences.

31 July, APLA holds its final parade.

1995

The PAC participates in the Provincial and local government elections in 1995/6. The party performs poorly in the elections, amassing just over 1% of the total votes.

1996

7 February, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with PAC leaders in one of a series of discussions with political leaders about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

9 February, It is announced that a special party congress is to be held in Bloemfontein during the Easter weekend by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) at which a new leadership could be elected.

15 June, Former apartheid policeman Hennie Gerber tells the Truth Commission how Samuel Kganaka a suspected member of Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) was tortured by being given electric shocks to his private parts while hanging upside down from a tree. Kganaka was later murdered in 1992.

14 August, The PAC in the Free State wishes Bantu Holomisa ‘luck’ ahead of his appearance before an African National Congress (ANC) disciplinary committee.

19 August, Major parties begin their political party submission to the Truth Commission. In a forty-three-page document the Freedom Front (FF) leader, General Constand Viljoen, emphasizes the need for reconciliation and nation-building. The PAC acknowledges that its armed wing, APLA, targeted white civilians. The party takes responsibility for this, but makes no apologies.

20 September, The PAC's finance secretary says it will transform itself from a revolutionary movement to a fully-fledged political party run on democratic and business principles. The aim is to counter-act the party's radical reputation and attract funds in preparation for the 1999 general elections.

12 December, The ANC confirms it has forwarded 300 applications from its members to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and expects to submit at least another sixty, including those of three Cabinet ministers. The PAC announced that at least 600 of its members, including the 'high command' of its armed wing APLA, have applied. No high-ranking IFP members are known to have applied.

15 December, Bishop Stanley Mogoba is elected as the PAC’s party president succeeding Clarence Makwetu. He resigned from his position as the presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

1997

7 March 1997, The Democratic Party (DP) and the PAC decline President Nelson Mandela's offer to join the Government of National Unity.

10 May, An estimated crowd of 100 supporters of Clarence Makwetu gather outside the University of the Western Cape's senate building demanding access to a closed hearing being held.

11 May, The PAC National Executive Committee meeting in Johannesburg suspends Clarence Makwetu from his leadership position in the party for allegedly sowing divisions. However, he remained a Member of Parliament pending the outcome of a second round of disciplinary hearings.

11 May, The chairman of a PAC disciplinary committee announces that former party President Clarence Makwetu has been expelled from the party for three years. Makwetu launches a Cape Town High Court action challenging his expulsion from the party.

13 May, The Western Cape regional executive of the PAC rejects the move to expel Clarence Makwetu and declares it will not recognise his dismissal, and will continue to call him President until a special national congress is convened to resolve the matter.

16 June, A Pan Africanist Congress rally to commemorate the 1976 student uprisings degenerated into a free-for-all between rival factions in Cape Town on Monday afternoon. The Khayelitsha rally which was to have to been addressed by PAC deputy secretary general Ike Mafole, was cancelled after fighting broke out between supporters of axed PAC MP Clarence Makwetu and those supporting the new leadership under Bishop Stanley Mogoba.

7 August, Benjamin Pogrund re-launches his book on Robert Sobukwe, entitled “How can man die better at Wits University.

October, Barney “Rissik” Desai a member and Vice President of the South African Coloured People's Congress who left South Africa in the early 1960s and became closely associated with the PAC in exile dies. 

25 November, The Director of the Department of International Affairs and Chief Administrator of PAC Head Quarters Carter Seleka is appointed as High Commissioner to Malawi.

December, Makwetu arrives unannounced at the PAC’s sixth annual conference at the University of Durban-Westville to request the PAC overturn its decision to suspend him but is turned away.

1998

June, Five members of a Pan Africanist Congress task force who killed a Free State farmer and robbed him of a car, firearms and household goods in 1993 are granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These were Thabo Paulos Mjikelo, Simon T Oliphant, Petrus T Mohapi Jacob T Mabitsa, John Xhiba and John N Wa-Nthomba.

18 September, Three members of the PAC’s armed wing APLA, Nkosinathi Mvinjane, Jabulani Khumalo and Lulamile Khwankwa are granted amnesty for murder of a Pimville traffic officer Simon Kungoane in August 1991.

25 September, Makwetu and the PAC reach an out of court settlement where the PAC  will reinstate him while he agreed to resign as an MP, abide by the PAC's constitution, refrain from addressing factional groups and strive to promote unity in the party.

December, The Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission denies amnesty to Mandla Maduna, a member of the PAC for the murder of three people at Cross Roads near Cape Town in 1993.

1999

7 June, The PAC Chairman for Mpumalanga Chief Bheki Mnisi resigns after the party performs poorly in the province.

11 June, Chief Bheki Mnisi defects from the PAC and joins the ANC at a press conference in Nelspruit.

September, A disgruntled former member of APLA in the SANDF shoots and kills seven white fellow soldiers and a civilian clerk at a military base in Tempe Bloemfontein.

21 October, A South African delegation that includes Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president and Home Affairs minister Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Foreign Affairs minister Nkosazana Zuma, Frene Ginwala, Adelaide Tambo, the PAC president Stanley Mogoba and other senior government officials attend the funeral of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania.

26 November, Former Pan Africanist Congress negotiator and strategist Gora Ebrahim, who joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1999 dies. Ebrahim represented the PAC at the United Nations and the party’s point of contact with Nordic countries.

2000

April, Stanley Mogoba is reelected as president of the PAC. Magoba beat Nemadzivhanani by 161 votes to 75. Thami Plaatjie was elected as the Secretary General and Busi Nkumane was elected treasurer.

2001

January, Sandile Sithupha, a member of the PAC is found dead in the US in Miami with his body burnt. Subsequently, the PAC calls on the government to probe his death.

21 March, A memorial with names of the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre is unveiled just outside the police station where the incident took place in 1960.

2002

22 June, Stanley Mogoba, the PAC president addresses mourners at the funeral of Ben Ntonga and states that the PAC is in talks with parties such as the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) on forming an alliance. He further stated that "Our idea is that there is no need to do things separately which we should be doing together. The other thing that really pushes us is that we have a strong black government we need a strong black opposition.”

December, The PAC suspends its congress which was to be held Umtata to elect a new leadership. It was decided at the congress that the outgoing president Stanley Mogoba should continue to lead the party until another congress is convened.

2003

16 February, Nineteen members of the PAC are arrested for participating in an illegal protest outside the Buffalo Park cricket stadium in East London. The PAC members were protesting against England's refusal to travel to Harare to play Zimbabwe on Thursday. The protesters were taken to East London's Fleet Street police station where they were released on a warning.

March, Patricia de Lille, a member of PAC leaves the party and establishes her own political party the Independent Democrats (ID) on 26 March.  

14 June, The PAC National Executive Committee agrees to expel Maxwell Nemadzivhanani from the party for three years and stated that he will not stand for any position at the PAC national congress in Soweto.  PAC had agreed he should be expelled from the party for three years.

15 June, The PAC deputy president Motsoko Pheko is elected as the new PAC president at the party's national elective congress held at Vista University. Pheko received 616 votes while his opponent Maxwell Nemadzivhanani received 209 votes. Themba Godi is elected as deputy president, Mofihli Likotsi the new Secretary General, Raymond Kgaudi Treasurer; Ntsie Mohloai was elected as National Organizer while Joe Mkhwanazi was elected National Chairperson.

August, The PAC’s provincial secretary in Limpopo Finest Mnisi dies in Nelspruit. His death came within a week of the death of another PAC member and secretary in Limpopo Nicholas Dangale, who died in a car accident at Vondwe village.

PAC leader Motsoko Pheko turns down an invitation by President Thabo Mbeki to an official lunch on July 9 where South Africa will be hosting President George Bush of the United States of America.

Jafta ‘Jeff’ Kgalabi Masemola is posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver in recognition for his role in the liberation struggle.

2004

Former president of the PAC Clarence Makwetu is awarded the Order of Luthuli (Silver) by President Thabo Mbeki.

May, Mosebjane Malatsi the former National Secretary and long serving member of the PAC dies in a car crash at Thaba Ntsho (Maleoskop).

26 August, Maxwell Nemadzivhanani the former Secretary General of the PAC defects and joins the ANC. The ANC issues a statement welcoming him to the party.

2005

8 July, Mlindazwe Nkula a founder member of the PAC dies. Nkula left South Africa in 1963 to undergo military training in Algeria and China. He was later appointed as the PAC's chief representative in East Africa before being deployed to Iraq for five years.

2006

September, PAC president  Motsoko Pheko suspends Themba Godi the deputy president of the party ahead of the party congress.

26 September, Letlapa Mphahlele is elected as PAC President at the party’s National Congress in Qwaqwa.

2007

June, Motsoko Pheko the PAC’s only MP is expelled from the party.  Achmad Cassiem the PAC Secretary General stated that Pheko was expelled from the party on allegations of misappropriating party funds. Pheko subsequently launches a challenge against his expulsion in court.

7 August, President Thabo Mbeki, together with the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Public Service and Administration meets with the president of the PAC Letlapa Mphahlele and his delegation in Pretoria.

September, The Cape High Court rules that the PAC cannot  replace Motsoko Pheko  as an MP until the outcome of the party's internal appeal process.

September, One of the PAC’s three members of parliament Themba Godi along with Eastern Cape MPL Zingisa Mkabile and Gauteng MPL Malesela Ledwaba -- the party's only representatives in the nine provincial legislatures –leave the party. Godi’s departure leaves the PAC with only two Members of Parliament. These departing members form the African People's Convention (APC).

2008

January, The Pan Africanist Youth Congress of Azania (PAYCO) calls on PAC president Letlapa Mphahlele to step down and for a congress to be convened to elect a new leader.

5 May, A two-day "consultative" meeting is held in Ga-Rankuwa, near Pretoria, where members from seven out of nine provinces - including former leaders Motsoko Pheko and Clarence Makwetu - were present.

August, The PAC files a high court application to Bloemfontein to stop a PAC splinter group led by Thami ka Plaatjie from holding a local conference and  establishing the PAC under a new leadership.

August, The PAC expels Thami ka Plaatjie and its former secretary for education, Snail Mgwebi for allegedly causing divisions. 

10 October, The Bloemfontein High Court rules that a PAC splinter group under the leadership of former secretary-general Thami ka Plaatjie, may not gather or organise under the name or colours of the PAC.

2009

6 November, Abram Mfanimpela Magagula, a former APLA commander and member of the PAC dies. Magagula, who was affectionately known as “Gags” left the country in 1984 and went to Lesotho before proceeding to Tanzania for military training.

2010

2 January, Patso Thabo Mphela a member of the PAC and a former APLA operative dies. Mphela skipped the country in 1977 and joined APLA in Mbeya, Tanzania before being sent to Libya for further military training in 1978.

13 May, The PAC announces the unveiling of the tombstone of Peter Nkutsweu Raboroko, one of the founder members of the organization who died in 2000.  Raboroko left the country in 1960 and became the PAC’s representative in Ghana and other African countries.

May, Former secretary General of the PAC and leader of the Pan Africanist Movement (PAM) an offshoot of the PAC Thami ka Plaatjie joins the ANC.

13 October, Former Secretary General of the PAC and Trade unionist Khoisan X dies in Johannesburg. Khoisan played an important in the PAC particularly during the multi-party negotiations in Kempton Park.

October, Azariah "Junior" Nkosi, a PAC member and former Robben Island political prisoner who was an adviser in the Pimville branch of the PAC dies.

November, Former APLA vanguard member Zebulon Selemo Mokoena dies.

29 November, The PAC holds a National Elections Summit.

December, Founder member of the PAC Edward Sonnyboy Bhengu nicknamed “Bra Sanza” dies.

2011

25 February, Former president of AZAPO Mosibudi Mangena speaks at the unveiling of an exhibition on the late PAC president Robert Sobukwe in Houghton Johannesburg.

April, Boniswa Ngcukana a member of the PAC who was murdered by apartheid security forces together with Cassius Barnabus while crossing the Lesotho border into South Africa is re-buried in Centane in the Eastern Cape.

April, Gasson Ndlovu affectionately known as “Oom Gas”, a founder member of both the PAC and its armed wing APLA dies in Cape Town. Ndlovu received military training in Egypt, Algeria and China before settling in Tanzania, where he was the APLA camp commander. He later moved to Lesotho where he continued with APLA activities.

September, Maurice Khoza resigns as the regional chairperson of the PAC in the Bushbuckridge area. He also resigns from his seat as a full-time councillor of the local municipality and chooses to remain working as a principal. 

7 September, PAC stalwart Johannes Moabi dies at the Sunward Park Hospital. Moabi skipped the country and went into exile to Swaziland in 1968. He worked closely with Joe Mkhwanazi in carrying out a number of PAC operations.

September, Khuselwa Ngcukana, the President of the PAC Women’s League dies in the Eastern Cape.