The PAC

Question 1

The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC)

Answer 1

• Robert Sobukwe had been an ANCYL leader but he disagreed with the integrationist approach and was a firm supporter of Africanism.
• In 1957, he helped form the PAC.

Question 2

The PAC philosophy

Answer 2

• In particular, it rejected the Freedom Charter, largely because of its emphasis on equal rights: many within the PAC rejected equal rights for white, whom it accused of exploiting and oppressing black African people.
• From its inception, the PAC believed African people could only act successfully by themselves.
• Many members – although not Sobukwe himself – saw white people as the enemy, who must be expelled from SA.
• It also opposed communism, and associated itself with other independence movements in Africa, fighting colonialism.
• The fundamental difference between the ANC and the PAC was over the Africanist policy.

Question 3

ANC opinion on the PAC

Answer 3

• The ANC insisted all ethnic groups could participate in the struggle against apartheid and all ethnic groups had an equal role to play in post-apartheid society.
• The formation of the PAC in April 1959 did not take the ANC leaders by surprise – they had already expelled one of its founders, Potlako Leballo, from the ANC for his Africanist views – but they disagreed profoundly with its philosophy.
• As they understood it, the PAC saw the liberation of South Africa from, apartheid in the same context as anti-colonial movements throughout Africa: Africa belonged to black African people who must fight alone for their liberation.
• The ANC had no problem with this view in relation to countries such as Ghana and Kenya, which were fighting for independence from colonial masters.
• The ANC felt, however, that it was inappropriate for South Africa , where ‘African People’ were not exclusively black.
• Extremists in the PAC argued that there was no place in Africa for white people or Asians, whereas the ANC embraced all groups who would support their struggle whatever their ethnicity, and also recognized that all the inhabitance of South Africa should have equal rights,
• The ANC was opposed to the apartheid regime rather than a specific group of people.

Question 4

Support for the PAC

Answer 4

• The PAC had a simple philosophy, which was easily understood.
• It gained a great deal of support, especially in the Witwatersrand area where many of its leaders were based, and in more rural areas.
• Indeed, it has been estimated that by 1959 its membership exceeded the ANC by as many as 25,000.
• The PAC regarded itself as a rival of the and sought to pre-empt the ANC in the leadership of anti-apartheid activities.
• This rivalry was to come to a head in the events which led to the Sharpeville Massacre in March 1961.