Motsoko Pheko, a true Africanist whose legacy is just not erasable
The last of the Sobukwe cohort, ran a good race
When I spoke to Joe Thloloe on Tuesday morning, as we reflected on what the world might look like after the death of former PAC president, Dr Motsoko Pheko, in his sick bed, he said: “Siyaphela,” which is to say, literally, “we are dying in numbers”.
Pheko died at 93 last week after a long illness.
At the early age of about 17, Thloloe, as a student at the famed Orlando High School in Soweto – and who would in later years be headed for journalism firmaments – first met Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, the “Prof”, at the Orlando Communal Hall in 1959, when he addressed the PAC inaugural Convention of the Africanists.
With his curiosity piqued, Thloloe wanted to understand what this academic had up his sleeve to solve the gigantic political problem of this country.
To cut to the chase, Thloloe was bowled over, and it was Sobukwe’s articulation in his emotional peroration of what the new South Africa or Azania ought to look like, that generated a spirit of awe in the man he would admire for the rest of his life.
At the end of his talk, Sobukwe would conclude with these words: “Our contention is that South Africa is an integral part of the indivisible whole that is Afrika.
“She cannot solve her problems in isolation from and with utter disregard for the rest of the continent.
“It is precisely for that reason that we reject both apartheid and so-called multi-racialism as solutions to our socio-economic problems.”
The address would stir something profound in the inner recesses of Thloloe’s being as it did to Pheko, one of the senior delegates at the inaugural conference, as it also did to all Africanists who gathered in Orlando East for the formal launch of the newly established Africanist movement, the PAC.
What does the Thloloe’s “Siyaphela” comment suggest?
Could it mean the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one with elder statesmen bowing
out through old age and death, passing the baton to the younger generation?
Thloloe is the lover of Africa, as was Sobukwe, as was Pheko and as were many other PAC leaders and stalwarts who have gone the way of all flesh, to borrow from Samuel Butler’s novel, The Way of Flesh.
Prominently, they included one of the shining stars of the Africanist movement, Zeph Mothopeng, who together with Sobukwe left the ANC in 1959 to form the PAC, was elected the organisation’s president in 1984, and died in 1990.
There was also Peter Raboroko, AP Mda, the fiery lawyer – and teacher, who formed the nucleus of the nascent Africanist cabinet, or shadow cabinet, led by Sobukwe, the prophet and scholar of all times.
And so, what will the world look like after Pheko’s death?
Pheko was at the forefront of the liberation struggle at the outset, at the formation of the PAC in 1959 – supporting the Africanists cause, using his intellect to help the organisation achieve its objectives.
Part of the aim was to address the land question, which is central to all other challenges facing the country’s indigenous people. Without the Africans owning land, all other demands fall by the wayside.
Land is everything; it represents economic wealth, ownership of assets and more.
To this question, in many fora, including as the PAC representative in the UN, Pheko tackled the issue with candour and vigour, calling for the land to be returned to the indigenous people from whom it was stolen by colonialism and apartheid system of governance.
Also, because of his passion of indigenous knowledge, Pheko founded a research institution – Tokoloho Development Association whose central function was to promote and publish research, tackling issues of indigenous knowledge before the advent of colonisation.
These are some of the attributes, attached to Pheko, that will be remembered about his overall contribution to the well-being of the African people.
Pheko represents the last of the Sobukwe cohort responsible for the formation of the PAC.
Thloloe’s words are significant: “Siyaphela”, which is to say the older PAC cohort is becoming extinct.
But the PAC will continue to wage the struggle for the total liberation of the Africanist cause, including the return of the land to the African people.
Another PAC stalwart Ngila Mike Muendane added his words of gratitude to the stalwart: “Pheko was a true Africanist. His legacy is not erasable. It will live until the end of time.”
Rest in peace, M’afrika.