Bonolo Gabuza

ROBERT SOBUKWE ON MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI Just sharing a bit of history captured in this book about Prof Robert Sobukwe, written by his closest friend, a Jewish journalist called Robert Pogrund. If it weren't for this friendship, we wouldn't have had the information we have about Sobukwe today, limited as it is. He kept most of the records, letters, pictures, books etc. I'll relate how this friendship developed in another post. I get fascinated when I read about some anecdotes of these leaders. Benjamin tells a time when Sobukwe had been released from Robben Island and was banished to Kimberly, while his family was in Johannesburg. He was occasionally allowed time off to visit the family when for example his son was in hospital, given only 24 hours in what was called "Cinderalla deadline", from midnight on Friday and be back in Kimberly by Saturday midnight. Reporting to the police station when leaving and arriving back. On this occasion he was allowed three days after Mom Veronica, his wife, had had an operation. They let him time to come see her. On one of those days on a Saturday 14 July 1973, he went with Benji for shopping at John Orr's in Joburg CBD. He also had an account at Markhams. 😊 He used to dress well mos. After Benji dropped him off and went to look for parking, as he was looking for Sobukwe inside the store, he bumps into Mangosuthu, also doing shopping, surrounded by bodyguards and assistants. Benji told him, "Bob is here", Buthelezi: "Where, here in the store? Tell him to come see me." Sobukwe was like wa hlanya, why doesn't he come to me. 😅 Benji did a to and fro between the two. Like a typical journalist, he went to grab his camera from the car to make sure he captures that moment when they meet. They eventually met outside on the pavement. A small crowd gathered around them, and Benji took a picture of the two embracing and doing small chat. The picture appeared on Monday in the Rand Daily Mail. Mangosuthu and Sobukwe had known each other for long, having both attended Fort Hare university in the 1940's. Benji had been upset with Mangosuthu that he had confirmed what Sobukwe said before to him that Mangosuthu would eventually sellout by collaborating with the apartheid regime to establish the Homeland/Bantustans for separate development for different Black tribes. He was to later become the Chief Minister of KwaZulu homeland when it was established in 1976. So, he had never made any effort to call or see Sobukwe since he came out of prison, until that day. He always pretended to care when he met Benji. Benji would give him Sobukwe's number and say just call him. He never did. The only time he communicated with Sobukwe was when he sent him a copy of an angry letter he had written back to an American writer, John St Jorre who wrote an article about South Africa in the journal Foreign Affairs, and was scathing towards Mangosuthu, comparing him unfavorably to Sobukwe and Biko. He hated being criticized. 😅 Gatsha had responded and said to the American, there was nothing about Biko and Sobukwe that he could envy, they were just Xhosa Commoners. 🤣😂 He went on to use that picture of the two of them to his advantage in another set up. I'll tell you about it. 😂

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Our ‘international airport’ had an in-depth interview with the British media in 1985. It was at the height of the apartheid state brutality and repression. He led a massive international campaign for comprehensive sanctions against the apartheid regime. The year 1985 marked a pivotal escalation in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, characterised by widespread mass protests, labor strikes, and intensified township resistance. By June, the UN Security Council urged member states to impose sanctions against the apartheid regime, precipitating a deepening political crisis. In response, PW Botha proclaimed a state of emergency to avert systemic collapse. The European Community and Commonwealth nations duly responded with economic sanctions. Until this moment, the US had extended unconditional political and economic backing to apartheid South Africa. It was only in 1986 under international pressure that the US imposed stricter economic measures against the apartheid regime. Winnie Mandela had been banished to Brandfort in the Free State. She defied the banning order and returned to Soweto to spearhead grassroots resistance against the regime. From 1985 onward, apartheid began to unravel. The state despite its attempts repression, it increasingly could not sustain its legitimacy and political stability. The real turning point came when FW de Klerk replaced PW Botha in 1989 and moved to open negotiations. In 1990, the ANC and other liberation organisations were unbanned, and Mandela was released from prison. Subsequent negotiations culminated in a transitional settlement wherein the enfeebled apartheid criminals ceded political power to the ANC while retaining de facto dominance over the economy. This negotiated criminal structure still persists today. Economic power remains concentrated among historical beneficiaries of the apartheid regime. Our economic liberation was sold at the negotiations table. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela did say that she felt betrayed. Chris Hani too opposed the negotiations and was murdered.