PAC's Jaki Seroke: Sobukwe would have supported the GNU

Mail & Guardian

14-07-2025

Former president of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe.
The spirit of goodness in the heart of the former president of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, continues to manifest nearly 50 years after his death.
According to Jaki Seroke, secretary of the PAC, there was no doubt that if Sobukwe were watching, he would be proud about the relationship his party has forged with the ANC and would be 'urging the PAC to push on until total liberation is attained so that in the end, Azania benefits from fruits of collaboration in the government of national unity [GNU]'.
The spirit of restoration between the two parties continues to manifest itself through the invitation the ANC has extended to the PAC to form part of the Liberation Movement Summit taking place in Johannesburg from 25 to 28 July.
The letter of invitation, signed and delivered by ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula to his counterpart, Apa Pooe, is a sign of the fraternal embrace the former liberation movements display to each other.
Part of the letter, among other pleasantries displayed, read as follows:
'We are delighted to formally notify you of the forthcoming Liberation Movement Summit which will be convened by the African National Congress in its capacity as the chair of the Liberation Movement. This is an esteemed summit … with the participation of all six Liberation Movement parties, under the distinguished leadership of His Excellency Mr Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa as the chair of the summit.'
The parties referred to include Zanu-PF of Zimbabwe; Frelimo of Mozambique; the MPLA of Angola; Chama Cha Mapinduzi of Tanzania; the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, a political party that spearheaded the liberation movements in both Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
The PAC, despite holding only one seat in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa gave it a cabinet position above other bigger parties, with its president, Mzwanele Nyhontso, serving as the minister of land reform and rural development.
That possibly explains why the PAC chose, without any strings attached, to work and support the ANC in the unity government.
Seroke expressed disappointment in the behaviour of the Democratic Alliance in the GNU, saying he wished the DA could do better. Rather than being obstructive and turning to the courts, matters could be dealt with through dialogue and constructive engagement.
'The DA in particular is misbehaving in public with their dog whistle politics aimed at polarising rather than uniting South African people.
'The ANC has lost the zeitgeist they had in 1994. It is seemingly easy to attack their leaders.
'It will take a great effort and time to get the internal politics right. That is why the splits of EFF [Economic Freedom Fighters], MKP [uMkhonto weSizwe party], the South African Communist Party and we, as the PAC, see this as opportunistic and harmful to the agenda of unity.
'Nation building cannot go smoothly when its enemies are embedded and ready to sabotage the GNU,' said Seroke.
Seroke said that Sobukwe would have sought 'a meeting of minds' between the two liberation movements to thrash out differences.
This, he said, was despite the differences that caused the separation of 1958, which triggered the formation of the PAC in 1959 to chart its own liberation path in the 'midst and whirlwind' of apartheid violence against the oppressed people in this country.
The Africanist members of the ANC walked out over what they regarded as insufficiently radical policies to bring about liberation.
Seroke said the fact that Sobukwe, with his other Africanists comrades, split with the ANC in the 1950s, should not, in 2025, with new thinking and spirit of cooperation emerging, hinder the PAC from supporting the ANC in projects such as the GNU.
He warned against a destructive strategy that ignores new political realities of cooperation and constitutional democracy.
Seroke said: 'Coalitions wear many different apparels but the essence is the same. Social forces from a range of political perspectives gather on a common cause, at times even to repel a threat that aims at delivering a scorched earth outcome.'
He said now was the time for all South Africans, whatever their political stripes, to strive to help build a better South Africa, and to hold hands towards that end.
'We must try to shy away from political parties that are mostly grouped around cult personalities or driven by a strongman mentality with no discernible principle, but keen on politics of brinkmanship.'
Seroke said that in keeping with the spirit of Sobukwe, 'we must be willing to work towards a common agenda, recognising that if we do not, the politics of throwing stones at each other and destroying goodwill will not take us far'.
He said despite the breakup in 1958, 'the PAC and the ANC have always had a symbiotic relationship that goes as far back as 1943, when the ANC Youth League was formed to propagate the ideals of African nationalism as a guiding philosophy'.
Seroke said the PAC is committed to working and supporting the ANC in the GNU.
'Our aim is not to score political points as we identify mistakes, and reversals of the African revolution gains.'
He said the relationship between the PAC and ANC should be mutually beneficial, 'which is to say that when the ANC grows, the PAC should not be stunted'.
Seroke said the PAC was willing to work with South Africans from all walks of life and from all political perspectives.
'The time of throwing around our toys, and seeking to wish away other people, is gone. We must, as the PAC, reach out to all South Africans.
'Sobukwe was a man of God, a man of prayer, a visionary who understood there is only one race, and that race is a human race.
'The ANC and PAC will work to ensure that the GNU succeeds, contributing to reshaping our society for the better, and it is unfortunate that organisations and those who are taking potshots at the GNU may be failing to read the signs of the time.'
Jo-Mangaliso Mdhlela is an independent journalist, a social justice activist, a former trade unionist, and an Anglican priest.