Robert Sobukwe | |
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![]() "Africa for Africans" | |
President of the Pan Africanist Congress | |
In office 9 April 1959 – 1963 | |
Succeeded by | Potlako Leballo |
Personal details | |
Born | Graaff-Reinet, Cape Province, Union of South Africa | 5 December 1924
Died | 27 February 1978 Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa | (aged 53)
Cause of death | Lung cancer |
Political party | Pan Africanist Congress |
Spouse | |
Children | Miliswa Sobukwe (daughter) Dinilesizwe Sobukwe (son) Dalindyebo Sobukwe (son) Dedanizizwe Sobukwe (son) |
Residence(s) | Kimberley, Cape Province, South Africa |
Alma mater | University of Fort Hare University of London |
Occupation | Teacher and lawyer |
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Apartheid |
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Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe OMSG (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization.
Sobukwe was regarded as a strong proponent of an Africanist future for South Africa and opposed political collaboration with anyone other than Africans, defining "African" as anyone who lives in and pays allegiance to Africa and who is prepared to subject themselves to African majority rule.[1] In March 1960, Sobukwe organized and launched a non-violent protest campaign against pass laws, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison on grounds of incitement. In 1963, the enactment of the "Sobukwe Clause," allowed an indefinite renewal of his prison sentence, and Sobukwe was subsequently relocated to Robben Island for solitary confinement. At the end of his sixth year at Robben Island, he was released and placed under house arrest until his death in 1978.[2]