Pan Africanist Congress of Azania


The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania is a South African Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that broke away from the African National Congress, as the PAC objected to the ANC's multiracialist worldview, instead advocating a South Africa based on Black nationalism, to the exclusion of other ethnicities or nationalities.

History

The PAC was formally launched on 6 April 1959 at Orlando Communal Hall in Soweto. A number of African National Congress members broke away because they objected to the substitution of the 1949 Programme of Action with the Freedom Charter adopted in 1955, which used multiracialist and nonracialist language as opposed to Black Africanist affirmations. The PAC at the time considered South Africa to be a black state by right and refused to support equal rights for other nationalities, such as Indian and White South Africans. They feared that the inclusion of ethnic minorities in the Anti-Apartheid Movement would lead to a take over by whites and "communist Indians" and dilute the struggle against apartheid to the "communist" methods of the ANC. Further they objected to the inclusion of other national groups such as the Communist Party of South Africa in the anti-apartheid struggle. Robert Sobukwe was elected as the first president, and Potlako Leballo as the Secretary General.
On 21 March 1960, the PAC organised a campaign against pass laws. People gathered in the townships of Sharpeville and Langa where Sobukwe and other top leaders were arrested and later convicted for incitement. Sobukwe was sentenced to three years and Potlako Leballo to two years in prison. Sobukwe died in Kimberley, Cape Province, 1978 of lung cancer. Immediately after the Sharpeville massacre the National Party Government banned both the ANC and PAC on 8 April 1960. The PAC responded by founding its armed wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Army.

Ideology

The PAC followed the idea that the South African Government should be constituted by the African people owing their allegiance only to Africa, as stated by Sobukwe in the inaugural speech of the PAC:

"We aim, politically, at government of the Africans by the Africans, for the Africans, with everybody who owes his only loyalty to Africa and who is prepared to accept the democratic rule of an African majority being regarded as an African."

It is Pan Africanism with three principles of African nationalism, socialism, and continental. Its body of ideas drew largely from the teachings of Anton Lembede, George Padmore, Marcus Garvey, Martin Delany, Kwame Nkrumah, and W. E. B. Du Bois.
The PAC initially advocated for a form of "Africanist Socialist Democracy", based on African and Black Identity, with the aim of creating a South Africa for Black South Africans, to the exclusion of other nationalities or ethnicities. Unlike the African National Congress' view on socialism, the PAC was stated to have rejected the concept of class oppression, instead focusing exclusively on national liberation. Nevertheless, their initial manifesto lists the "black working class" as the "driving force in the struggle" against white capitalists and "reactionary" middle-class groups. These socialist elements were strongly toned down by the 1990s, instead adopting a more "conservative" stance that sought not to restrict market forces and a committment not to implement socialism "for the sake of it". The PAC's own youth wing described the new program as the "work of an element which is on the CIA payroll".
The PAC historically rejected Marxism, opposed communism and the inclusion of ethnic minorities within the liberation struggle, instead advocating black liberation exclusively within a Black nationalist concept.

Leadership struggles

The PAC has been beset by infighting and has had numerous changes of leadership since its transition to a political party. In 1996, Clarence Makwetu, who led the party in the 1994 elections, was removed on the basis of "bringing the party into disrepute'.
In August 2013, the PAC elected Alton Mphethi as president, after previous leader Letlapa Mphahlele was expelled in May amidst allegations of attempting to cause division in the party, financial impropriety and poor quality leadership.
A faction of the PAC continued to regard Mphahlele as leader. The matter was resolved in the courts, with Mpheti eventually being confirmed as party leader for the 2014 election.
Mpheti has since been charged with murder for the death of a Swazi national, Mthunzi Mavundla.
Luthando Mbinda was elected president at the 2014 congress in Botshabelo, while Letlapa Mphahlele was elected in July 2015 in Manguang. Mbinda claimed that Mphahlele's election was not valid, as he was not a valid member, while Mphahlele is challenging his expulsion in court.
The Independent Electoral Commission suspended the party's statutory fund’s allocations until there was clarity about who leads the party, and in October 2015 the high court confirmed that Mbinda was the recognised leader.
Conflict then arose between Mbinda and Chief Executive Officer Narius Moloto. Mbinda was subsequently charged by the PAC and later expelled for bringing the organisation into disrepute. The current president, Narius Moloto was elected party leader in December 2017.
Infighting continued after the 2019 elections, with leader Narius Moloto unilaterally dissolving the party's structures, a decision which was later set aside by the courts.
In August 2019, in Limpopo, one faction elected Moloto as leader, while a week later in Bloemfontein, another faction elected Mzwanele Nyhontso as leader. In October 2019, the Independent Electoral Commission recognised Nyhontso as the legitimate party leader.

Election results

National elections

! Election
! Total votes
! Share of vote
! Seats
! +/–
! Government
! 1994
! 1999
! 2004
! 2009
! 2014
! 2019

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 | Election
! colspan=2 | Eastern Cape
! colspan=2 | Free State
! colspan=2 | Gauteng
! colspan=2 | Kwazulu-Natal
! colspan=2 | Limpopo
! colspan=2 | Mpumalanga
! colspan=2 | North-West
! colspan=2 | Northern Cape
! colspan=2 | Western Cape
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! % !! Seats
! 1994
! 1999
! 2004
! 2009
! 2014
! 2019

Municipal elections

! Election
! Votes
! %
! 1995-96
! 2000
! 2006
! 2011
! 2016