Questions persisted for decades over the circumstances surrounding the death of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, the founding president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and the party has now renewed its call for a formal judicial inquest.
In an interview with the SABC, PAC President and land reform minister Mzwanele Nyhontso reaffirmed the party’s commitment, stating that the matter had long remained unresolved and that the official explanation of Sobukwe’s death had never satisfied the PAC.
“We have never accepted the narrative that Sobukwe died of natural causes,” Nyhontso said, insisting that strong prima facie evidence suggested his death resulted from cumulative complications caused by years of state-engineered brutality.
Nyhontso has already begun briefing lawyers as preparations continue to seek a court order authorising an inquest. Such an inquiry could compel state departments to release all relevant medical files, audio recordings, court transcripts, and security documents related to Sobukwe’s detention and final years.
It could also potentially open the door to further investigation or legal action, depending on the findings. More than four decades after Sobukwe’s death, unresolved questions surrounding his treatment, his illness, and the political motives of his persecutors continue to echo across South Africa’s legal and political landscape. For the PAC, uncovering the truth is both a moral obligation and a necessary step toward restoring the dignity of a leader whose voice the apartheid machinery sought to silence.
Sobukwe, who died at the age of 53 in Kimberley in 1978, has long been regarded as one of the most persecuted political figures under apartheid. Although the apartheid state attributed his death to lung cancer, the PAC maintains that his diagnosis and treatment took place under deeply suspicious conditions, marked by ongoing surveillance and manipulation by security forces.
The PAC’s renewed demand for an inquest comes at a time when the state itself is reopening major apartheid-era cases. The NPA and the Hawks recently confirmed significant progress in several historic matters, including the conviction of two former apartheid police officers for the 1987 murder of student activist Caiphus Nyoka.
The apartheid-era cases being probed include an inquest into the 1977 death of Black Consciousness leader Bantu Steven Biko, which has since been postponed for case management.They also include an inquest into the 1993 killing of five children who were sleeping in a house in Mthatha by the South African Defence Force.
The cases demonstrate a broader national shift toward re-examining unresolved apartheid-era violations and addressing past investigative failures. They also show that courts today are willing to review incidents once considered closed, precisely the precedent the PAC is relying on in its call for a Sobukwe inquest.
Nyhontso explained that the organisation believes these complications stemmed from “systematic mental and physical torture, illegal incarceration and illegal medical procedures” inflicted on Sobukwe between 1960 and 1978. Over those years, he endured isolation, allegedly suffered poisoning, and faced persistent physical and psychological harm.
His persecution intensified following his leadership of the positive action campaign against the pass laws in 1960. Sobukwe served a three-year prison sentence, only for the apartheid government to enact the infamous “Sobukwe Clause,” which allowed authorities to extend his imprisonment indefinitely without trial. This clause kept him detained on Robben Island from 1963 to 1969. The PAC argues that isolating him from other political prisoners was a calculated strategy to sever his influence and weaken the Africanist political momentum he championed.
Even after leaving Robben Island, Sobukwe lived under house arrest in Kimberley, monitored relentlessly as his health deteriorated. According to the PAC, he confided in his wife, the late Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe, that he had once been served food containing fine particles of glass, a detail she repeated publicly and clung to until she died in 2018.
The party further alleges that Sobukwe underwent secret medical procedures without his wife’s knowledge and that the apartheid regime blocked him from travelling abroad for medical care, despite offers of assistance from institutions in the United States. For the PAC, this refusal forms part of a broader pattern of obstruction and deliberate cruelty.
The justice cluster further noted in a media statement that the TRC Cases Inquiry, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 29 May 2025, is now probing whether investigations and prosecutions of apartheid crimes were intentionally obstructed. This inquiry, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, is expected to assess whether cases like Sobukwe’s were mishandled or prematurely closed.
The cluster also referenced the official position previously adopted regarding Sobukwe’s passing. Medical professionals involved in his care concluded that his health issues were consistent with natural causes. Family members, including his widow, had publicly reframed his death as peaceful, while government authorities and legal experts reviewing the matter found no legal basis for an inquest at the time. This perspective stands in contrast to the PAC’s current belief that new evidence, historical disclosures, and patterns of state interference justify a fresh judicial examination. – ntsika@mukurukuru.co.za
