They all quote Pan Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe, owe allegiance to the Pan Africanism epitomised by the gallant Nkwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey, and are mostly intellectual heavyweights like Dr Motsoko Pheko, Dr Snail Mgwebi, Dr Stanley Mogoba and Dr Azariah Makgatho.
But it has become notable that PAC members cannot hold a meeting without somebody staging a walkout, singing songs, denouncing the leaders or squabbling over position.
”A political party’s attitude towards its own mistakes is one of the most important and surest ways of judging how earnest the party is, and how it fulfils in practice its obligations towards its class and the working people.
”Frankly, knowing a mistake, ascertaining the reasons for it, analysing the conditions that have led up to it and trashing out the means of its rectification, that is the hallmark of a serious party.” Beautiful, hey? Pity that the words were quoted by a party renegade at a breakaway meeting. The speaker was former PAC president Clarence Makwetu, quoting John Lewis at a meeting of the All African Conference (AAC) held in Cape Town two weeks ago.
The AAC is a response to what supporters claim is the ”illegitimate leadership” of the PAC under Pheko.
Pheko was elected president at the PAC congress in June held at Vista University, Soweto. But a chorus of opinion, led by former secretary Thami ka Plaatjie, questioned the credentials of some of the candidates, especially those viewed as Pheko supporters. Ka Plaatjie has since quit politics and joined the National Development Agency.
In true dissident form, the AAC denounce labels such as renegade, breakaway or splinter group and claim to be the true custodians of Sobukwe’s PAC.
Now the group, which uses the PAC letterhead, has launched a new defiance campaign, against Pheko’s leadership.
Called Asinifuni-Anifunwa (You are not wanted), the campaign aims to influence branches to ”derecognise” Pheko and ”his surrogates”, to encourage PAC councillors to ”hang in” until the clarion calls, and to call on intellectuals to write articles to indicate why Sobukwe’s legacy cannot be left in the hands of Pheko.
With such haemorrhaging, it is little wonder that a homeland party such as Lucas Mangope’s United Christian Democratic Party enjoys more support than the PAC. Even former PAC MP Patricia de Lille, who left as an individual, threatens to win more electoral support than the PAC, the Azanian People’s Organisation or its breakaway group, the Socialist Party of Azania.
Now, will the real PAC please stand up?