A tale of two giants: Sobukwe and Mandela
NOVANEWS
Robert Sobukwe
Lebohang Liepollo Pheko
Extremely feared in life and in death, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary leader Sobukwe remains largely silenced as all attention has been lavished on Mandela. Subukwe articulated an uncompromising internationalist vision with Afrika at the centre. He eschewed multi-racialism and a narrow nationalism. Restoring land to Black people was at the heart of his praxis of liberation.
It is an odd fluke that these two men arrived and departed from this earth on the same day: Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was born on 5 December 1924 while Mandela died on the same date three years ago. Initially counterparts in the ANC Youth League, their profound tactical differences and deep ideological and intellectual crev...