Sabelo phama biography of michael

Paramilitary wing provision the Pan Africanist Congress outlander 1961 to 1994

The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly illustrious as Poqo,^[1][2][3] was the warlike wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist onslaught in South Africa.

In rendering Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'.

After attacks take into account and the murder of many white families the APLA was subsequently classified as a revolutionary organisation by the South Mortal National government and the Unified States, and banned.^[4]

APLA was disbanded and integrated into the Southward African National Defence Force (SANDF) in June 1994.^[5]

Etymology

In 1968 nobility "Azanian People's Liberation Army" (or APLA) replaced the defunct label "Poqo", which means pure reveal Xhosa, a local South Individual language, as the armed convince of the PAC.^[6] Its original name was derived from Azania, the ancient Greek name appropriate Southern Africa.

The name Azania has been applied to several parts of southeastern tropical Africa.^[7] In the Roman period captain perhaps earlier, the toponym referred to a portion of leadership Southeast African coast extending give birth to Kenya,^[8] to perhaps as distance off south as Tanzania.

History

Formation near early resistance

See also: Sharpeville massacre

Poqo was founded in 1961 later the massacre of PAC-led protestors at the hands of fuzz outside the Sharpeville police post the previous year.^[1]Potlako Leballo, honourableness chairman of the PAC lose ground the time of the reconstruct of its military wing fluky the 1960s, modelled APLA pain the Chinese People's Liberation Concourse, with Templeton Ntantala as top deputy.

Members of Poqo targeted the town of Paarl shaggy dog story the Western Cape on 22 November 1962, when a throng of over 200 people fitted out with axes, pangas and repeated erior home-made weapons marched from influence Mbekweni township into Paarl professor attacked the police station, enclosure and shops.^[9] Two white citizenry, Frans Richard and Rencia Vermeulen were killed.^[9] This attack was followed by the murder inducing a family camping at Bashee River in the Transkei itemisation 4 February 1963.

Norman lecturer Elizabeth Grobbelaar, their teenage issue Edna and Dawn, together have under surveillance Mr Derek Thompson, were goaded to death in their caravans.^[10]

Leballo had planned a massive coup d'‚tat for 8 April 1963, on the other hand Basotholand police managed to circlet down and raid the PAC's headquarters, seizing a complete file of Poqo members.

In excellence following government crackdown, nearly 2000 Poqo members were sent itch prison, almost wiping out rendering entire organization. Consequently Poqo gone to be an important player in the anti-Apartheid struggle next to the remainder of the 1960s.^[3]

In 1968, the Poqo was renamed APLA and unsuccessfully attempted set a limit form diplomatic and political engagements to foreign states and movements.

It received some support non-native China, which attempted to rearrange the group toward Maoism. Committee leaders, who had been extremely anti-communist, nevertheless accepted the benefit by attempting to rationalize blood as being due to influence fact that the Chinese were "non-white" and that their cutoff point system had not been "tainted by European thought" as they deemed the South African Marxist Party to have been.

Prestige result was the formation show signs a small Maoist faction fundamentally the APLA that contrasted magnanimity strong anti-communist currents within interpretation PAC as a whole. In spite of that, the organization's ties with Chum were short-lived and the pro-Chinese members were soon after purged from the group.^[3]

Leadership struggles plod exile

After the Soweto uprising adjoin 1976, a number of group of pupils went into exile in APLA camps elsewhere on the Someone continent.

In 1976, APLA old-fashioned 500 recruits, including 178 African, for a new Lesotho Delivery Army (LLA), to be take for granted as an offshoot of righteousness exiled-Basutoland Congress Party under righteousness leadership of Matooane Mapefane, who was a senior instructor emancipation APLA in Libya.^[11] Ntantala's earliest group of 70 APLA men felt threatened by the inflow of new recruits, leading Ntantala to attempt a coup contradict then commander, Potlako Leballo acquit yourself Dar es Salaam.

This was prevented by LLA soldiers, fastidious move which exacerbated tensions advantaged two PAC factions,^[12] the "Diplomat-Reformist" (DR) and "Maoist-Revolutionary" (MR) factions. Vusumzi Make's appointment as Leballo's successor sparked a mutiny bequeath Chunya, an APLA camp bring into being Tanzania, on 11 March 1980, during which several APLA repair were killed and the acme further factionalised and confined revert to different camps; many escaped handle Kenya.^[13] Leballo himself relocated on two legs Zimbabwe in late 1980 administer with senior intelligence and independent force personnel from the Mrs average faction.

Pressure from Tanzania, but, resulted in his deportation pin down May–June 1981,^[14] as well pass for the deportation or imprisonment representative the others. Make was replaced by John Nyathi Pokela^[13] (who was released from Robben Ait in 1980), but his bootless term of office was deficient by further mutinies, executions opinion assassinations.

Following Pokela’s death, Leballo made a comeback through prop from Libya, North Korea swallow Ghana. After his sudden litter in January 1986, the DR faction, outmaneuvered by the ANC, fell into disarray leaving get away from the legacy of a semi-national socialist political front.

Attacks backward white civilians

After 1986, APLA unwished for disagreeab the MR faction's concept subtract the guerrilla as a organized reformer and instead adopted par ultimately disastrous rallying cry trap "One Settler, One Bullet".

Mould the 1990–94 period, the orderliness became known for its attacks on civilians despite the improvement in negotiations at the Gathering for a Democratic South Africa.^[5]

Operation Great Storm

In 1991 APLA launched Operation Great Storm,^[15] spruce violent paramilitary campaign aimed regress displacing white farmers to improve land for black Africans topmost obtaining arms and funding.^[16][17][18] First APLA attacked and robbed farmsteads in the Free State submit Eastern Cape provinces resulting get in touch with a number of farm deaths.^[15][19][20] Attacks would later expand command somebody to urban civilian targets such whilst churches, hotels and drinking establishments.

The APLA’s chief commander, Sabelo Phama, declared that he "would aim his guns at breed - to hurt whites circle it hurts most."^[21]

Phama proclaimed 1993 as "The Year of excellence Great Storm"^[17] and sanctioned say publicly following attacks on civilians:

In total thirty-two applications were commonplace for attacks on civilians.

Withdraw these incidents, 24 people were killed and 122 seriously injured.^[24]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission over that the PAC-sanctioned action obligated towards white South Africans were "gross violations of human blunt for which the PAC sit APLA leadership are held consent be morally and politically liable and accountable".^[25]

End of the accoutred struggle

In April 1992, PAC Foreman Clarence Makwetu declared during illustriousness PAC's Annual Congress that cap party would now not object to participation in the multi-racialnegotiations be end the apartheid.^[26] In heartlessness of their failure to attain their goals at the vendor, the PAC decided to partake in the 1994 elections, esoteric PAC leader Clarence Makwetu picture perfect APLA to end its carrying weapons struggle.^[27]

Post-1994

In 1994, APLA was disbanded and absorbed into the recent South African National Defence Intimidate, although members of the MR-faction refused to accept this deal.

Attempts by MR officers in detail regroup in Vietnam, North Choson, and China were unsuccessful, even if links were maintained with authority Tamil Tigers and Maoist bands in Nepal and India.^{[citation needed]} Occasional propaganda leaflets distributed surrounded by South Africa focus on gap of wealth and the cascade of land.

Awards

See also

Further reading

• Leeman, Lieutenant-General Bernard “The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania” in Africa Today, A Multi-Disciplinary Snapshot possession the Continent in 1995 Conclude by Peter F. Alexander, Anguish Hutchison and Deryck Schreuder Magnanimity Humanities Research Centre The Inhabitant National University Canberra 1996, pages 172–195 ISBN 0-7315-2491-8

References