/ 19 December 1997

Apla commander maintains he was betrayed

Wonder Hlongwa

Former Azanian People’s Liberation Army commander Enoch Zulu refused to apologise at the Pan Africanist Congress conference in Durban this week for claiming PAC president Stanley Mogoba had betrayed him during his 1988 terrorism trial.

A disciplinary committee was appointed to look into whether Zulu’s accusation violated the party’s constitution and disciplinary code.

Two months ago, President Nelson Mandela advised Mogoba not to seek a seat on the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Intelligence, lest he suffer the indignity of a security check. At a hastily arranged press conference, Zulu said the issue had been distorted. Flanked by Mogoba and PAC stalwart Johnson Mlambo, he said he had stayed with Mogoba while on the run, and after his arrest had revealed this to police. Mogoba added that he and Mlambo had decided Mogoba could confirm that information, rather than go to jail.

But a week after the PAC press conference, Zulu – appearing alone – changed his story, claiming Mogoba had betrayed him to the apartheid state by testifying.

Then, Mogoba was touring the United States, raising money for the PAC, which claims to be the fastest-growing organisation in the country. The PAC this week declined to reveal how much money Mogoba raised from American church groups and business leaders.

Nor would it say whether it was getting foreign funds either, although PAC whip Patricia de Lille said sympathetic countries include Zimbabwe, Iran and Egypt.