ISBN 9783905758122
Pages 356
Dimensions 244 x 170 mm
Published 2009
Publisher Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Namibia
Format Paperback

In the Twilight of the Revolution

The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa) 1959-1994

by Kwandiwe Merriman Kondlo

This book is a long-overdue history of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and the rise of the Africanist ideology in South Africa. From its formation in 1959, the PAC underground inside South Africa and in exile shaped the dynamics of the anti-apartheid movement and liberation struggle by framing alternative ideologies. Kwandiwe Kondlo analyses the radical traditions, the structural contradictions and the internal conflicts of this rival to the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's dominant liberation organisation.

The contributions of some of the PAC leaders, including Robert Sobukhwe, Potlake Kitchener Leballo, Vusumzi Make and John Nyathi Pokela, are reconstructed as are the PAC's experiences in exile and the strategies pursued by its military wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Party (APLA). The role of the PAC in the power-sharing negotiations leading to the historic 1994 elections in South Africa round off the narrative. The PAC story is a highly controversial one, as the perspectives are wide and various. This book seeks to present a balanced picture which includes diverse views in a comprehensive narrative.

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Review

“Dr Kondlo uses PAC documents and veterans’ memories to produce an innovative history of the movement ..., the first academically reputable history of the PAC from its turbulent beginning in 1959 to the twilight years of the revolution that ended in 1994.”

Patrick Harries, University of Basel

About the Author

Kwandiwe Merriman Kondlo

Kwandiwe Merriman Kondlo obtained his PhD from the University of Johannesburg. His doctorate covered exile liberation movements in southern Africa, with a special focus on the PAC. He is currently the Executive Director of the Programme of Democracy and Governance at the Human Science Research Council in South Africa. He is also Visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Witwatersrand’s School of Public and Development Management where he teaches aspects of South Africa’s public policy, and an Honorary Research Associate attached to the NRF Chair in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town.