John Nyathi "Poks" Pokela (1922 or 1923 – 30 June 1985) was a South African political activist and Chairman of 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 ...

(PAC).

Early life

Born in Herschel in the

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 ...

region, he was educated at Healdtown Comprehensive School and the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

. Graduating as a teacher he would teach in

Standerton Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of the Vaal River in Mpumalanga, South Africa, which specialises in cattle, dairy, maize and poultry farming. The town was established in 1876 and named after Boer leader Co ...

. Originally a member of the

African National Congress Youth League The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NW ...

where he was a member of the Africanist wing which rejected contact with other racial groups in the ANC. He left 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 November 1958 and helped found the PAC in the late 1950s becoming its Acting Secretary-general. He would leave South Africa in 1963, leading the organisation in exile from

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

Incarceration on Robben Island

In 1966, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on

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 ...

on charges of sabotage related to 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), the militant wing of the Pan Africanist Congress; he had helped found the APLA (originally known as Poqo) in 1961, along Z. B. Molete and Clarence Makwetu. While incarcerated, Pokela worked towards uniting the various factions of the PAC. In 1980, having served his sentence, Pokela was released from Robben Island. In February 1981, he was appointed to succeed

Vusumzi Make Vusumzi L. Make (1931 – 15 April 2006) was a South African civil rights activist and lawyer. He and the American poet Maya Angelou met in 1961, lived together in Cairo, Egypt, before parting ways in 1962. He was a professor at the Univers ...

, (who had resigned after the Chunya massacre in March 1980 when APLA troops refused to accept his leadership), to become head of the Tanzanian backed faction of the PAC. His leadership was rejected by the survivors of the 500 strong APLA Chunya force as well as the Maoist PAC factions in Zimbabwe, Libya, Ghana, and Kenya but Tanzania persuaded the Mugabe government to deport or imprison the major opponents (Leballo, Leeman, Gaelisiwe, Buqwana) .Leeman, Bernard ''Mandela, Sobukwe, Leballo, and Mokhehle'' Azania Press 2008

Chairmanship of the Pan Africanist Congress

Attempts at intra-party reconciliation

Once he assumed the position of chairman, Pokela set to work reuniting the PAC, which had been fractured since the 1979

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

n-backed deposition of Chairman

Potlako Leballo Potlako Kitchener Leballo (19 December 1924–January 1986) was an Africanist who led the Pan Africanist Congress until 1979. Leballo was co-founder of the Basutoland African Congress in 1952, a World War II veteran and primary school headmaster ...

, leader of the party from 1962 to 1979. He held talks with the 70 member Azanian People's Revolutionary Party (APRP), a short-lived offshoot of the PAC formed by members expelled by 1978 PAC National Executive meeting in Arusha. Because of this reconciliation effort, they rejoined in 1982 and the APRP disbanded.

Support for Iraq

During the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

, Pokela visited

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

with a PAC delegation, and stated his support for Iraq. However, this was contrary to the position of the PAC, which was to not pick sides in a conflict between members of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

, and Pokela was criticized for this action by other members of the party, including Henry Isaacs and Mike Muendane. Iraq later sent 50,000 dollars to the PAC.

Reorganization of the party

Pokela also attempted the reorganization of the party itself, which was suffering from both differences between various Central Committee members and differences between the leaders and the party members. He appointed outgoing Chairman Make to the position of Deputy Chairman, even though Make was being investigated for misuse of funds at the time, and increased the power of the chairman. Pokela also encountered more opposition from Isaacs about his organizational changes (Isaacs eventually resigned.) Under Pokela, the use of funds was set, with 50% set aside for military operations, 30% going to administration, and 20% used for propaganda; the idea of members submitting annual financial reports about their use of PAC funds was also floated. Nevertheless, money went missing at various points in time, and the PAC ran out of funds between March and November 1981.

Death

Pokela died in

Parirenyatwa Hospital Parirenyatwa General Hospital a hospital in Harare and is the largest medical centre in Zimbabwe. The hospital was formerly known as the Andrew Fleming Hospital and was named after the principal medical officer to the British South Africa Company ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in June 1985. He was buried in a state funeral in Zimbabwe officiated by Dr. Stanley Mogoba, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

bishop, and was praised by Zimbabwean president

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

for reuniting the PAC. Pokela was succeeded as chairman by

Johnson Mlambo Johnson Phillip Mlambo (22 February 1940 – 9 January 2021) was a South African politician from Johannesburg. Activism and political career He joined the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) at its foundation in 1959, becoming branch leader in Dave ...

Literature written by Pokela

*"Segregatory Bodies Must Go." ''Inkundla'', 24 December 1949. *"The Birth-Pangs of African Unity in the Sub-Continent" Manuscript, possibly written in 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokela, John Nyathi Anti-apartheid activists South African revolutionaries 1920s births 1985 deaths South African prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of South Africa Inmates of Robben Island Pan Africanist Congress of Azania politicians University of Fort Hare alumni