Clarence Mlami Makwetu (6 December 1928 – 1 April 2016) was a South African

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

, politician, and leader of the

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...

(PAC) during the historic 1994 elections.

Personal life

Clarence Mlami Makwetu was born on 6 December 1928 in Hoyita, Cofimvaba in the bantustan of

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

. He was the second of five children of Minah and Gqongo Makwetu. He was educated at Keilands Mission School in the

Stutterheim Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in South Africa, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim. History The area's earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups r ...

district and matriculated at Lovedale, near Alice in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. Makwetu left the Transkei for Cape Town where African were not allowed after a brief stint in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

as a casual worker in the late 1940s. In

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

he was received by

Chris Hani Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993), born Martin Thembisile Hani , was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce ...

’s elder brother, with whom he was friends. He had a stint in a factory that made children’s toys, but left work after intermittent pass raids by the police. Makwetu soon became self-employed and sold various goods from his flat in Langa before he became involved in the struggle for liberation in 1952.

Anti-apartheid activity

Clarence Makwetu became involved in the struggle for liberation when he joined the 1952 Defiance campaign, an anti-apartheid pass laws campaign organised by the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. In 1954, he had joined the ANC Youth League as a member. Disillusioned by the ANC's approach to the fight for liberation, Makwetu joined the Africanist faction led Robert Sobukwe. This faction believed in the saying Africa for Africa which meant that Africans had to determine their future. On 6 April 1959, Makwetu and other Africanists such as Potlako Leballo formed the

Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...

under the leadership of

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization. Sobukwe w ...

at Orlando Community Hall in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

. One of Makwetu's main reasons for supporting the PAC was its commitment to restoring the land to the African people. Makwetu became the PAC secretary at Langa Flats. While Sobukwe led thousands of people against pass laws in Sharpville on 21 March 1960, Makwetu was one of the 6000 men who had gathered to march to the Langa police station for the same cause on the same day. On 30 March 1960, a state of the emergency was declared and Makwetu was detained from March until September 1960.During this period the PAC was banned. In August 1961 he was arrested in Cape Town and escorted to

where he was banished. A month later he was again detained from September 1961 to February 1962. After his release, he returned to Cape Town, but was arrested again and sent back to Cofimvaba. In April 1963, Makwetu was once again arrested and charged with furthering the aims of a banned organisation, the PAC. He was tried in Ngcobo and sentenced to Five years imprisonment. On his way to Robben Island he was taken to Stellenbosch to face further charges but was acquitted. During his time in

Robben Island Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...

, he became a companion of former

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n president

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

with whom he was in the B section on the prison After serving five years, Makwetu was released from

in 1968 and taken back to

where he was restricted for two years until 1970. He soon found employment near Qamata,

as a clerk with a building firm earning R39 a month. He obtained a plot of land linked to an irrigation scheme and began crop farming. In June 1976 during the Soweto uprisings, he was detained and held until May 1977 for alleged underground activities. He was also arrested by the Transkei Police in July 1979 and detained until October of the same year. In December 1979, Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima, finally banished him to the Libode district for 5 years until October 1984 when he was allowed to return to Cofimvaba. But his presence remained a threat and he was detained again in August 1986 for 4 months. In 1989 the Pan African Movement (PAM) was launched and Makwetu was elected leader. In 1990, the PAC was unbanned and Makwetu was elected president in December that year.

Political career

In April 1992, Makwetu declared at his political party's Annual Congress that the PAC was now not opposed to taking part in the negotiations to end the apartheid, so long the negotiations were held in a "neutral venue under a neutral chairman." The PAC unsuccessfully argued during the Codesa negotiations that any settlement that did not tackle the land question was flawed, and this failure lead the party to be divided over whether to participate in the 1994 elections. Makwetu argued for participation, and ordered the party's military wing, the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

(Apla), to end its armed struggle, but with the party not fully behind the campaign, the party only won five seats in the historic first non-racial election. In 1994, he became one of the PAC's three MPs in South Africa's first democratic Parliament. Makwetu was unseated as leader in 1996, being accused of bringing the party into disrepute, and retired. Following his expulsion from the PAC in 1997, Makwetu went on to form and lead the Pan Africanist Movement (PAM). Makwetu's son, Mazwi, said his father resorted to land activism in his home town of Cofimvaba in the former Transkei where he had a farm, livestock and several fields.

Awards

In 2004, Makwetu was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver by President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

for his contribution to the struggle for a non-racial‚ non-sexist‚ just and democratic South Africa.

Death and legacy

Makwetu died on 1 April 2016 at the age of 88 and was buried on 16 April 2016. Makwetu is survived by his wife Mandisa and two sons. ANC stalwart

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Con ...

is quoted saying about Makwetu. "In the political circles, Makwetu is remembered for his discipline. He was widely respected across the political divide because of his discipline. He was one man I could talk politics to without the fear of being insulted...He came after us in jail (

) and we were all stunned by his conduct. He always preached unity, which was contrary to what the other PAC guys wanted.”

External links

Clarence Mlami Makwetu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makwetu, Clarence 1928 births 2016 deaths Pan Africanist Congress of Azania politicians African and Black nationalists Anti-apartheid activists Inmates of Robben Island Members of the National Assembly of South Africa People acquitted of treason South African politicians convicted of crimes South African prisoners and detainees South African revolutionaries Members of the Order of Luthuli