Introduction

The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) of Azania is a national liberation movement that fought for the overthrow of white domination or settler colonialism, and for the implementation and maintenance of the right to self-determination and social emancipation of the African majority. When the PAC was formed on April 6, 1959, the settlers had been occupying South Africa for 307 years. The settler minority rule or domination had evolved, from the colour bar to apartheid and separate development, to become fully entrenched in this country. There was no place in government for the African majority, as they had been excluded from running the affairs of their country by the South Africa Act of 1909 (SA, 1909), which established the Union of South Africa in 1910.

The formation of the PAC in 1959 was prompted by the need to raise the struggle to a higher level. It coincided with the establishment of the Bantustans, created in terms of the Bantu Authorities Act 68 of 1951 (SA, 1951) and had reached the highest level of constitutional development with the passing of the Promotion of the Bantu Selfgovernment Act 46 of 1959 (SA, 1959). The struggle of the oppressed, the exploited and the discriminated-against majority had reached a turning-point by 1960, following the launch of the Anti-Pass Positive Action Campaign planned and led by the PAC, which resulted in the Sharpville and Langa massacres of March 21, 1960. This was followed by the declaration of a state of emergency on March 30, 1960 and the banning of the PAC and the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners and other antiapartheid organisations on April 8, 1960, under the Unlawful Organisations Act 34 of 1960 (SA, 1960).

This situation ended non-violent and other peaceful methods of struggle, which were “buried” at Sharpeville and Langa. The resistance movement of the African majority had no alternative but to resort to armed struggle as the principal method of struggle; hence the emergence of the military wings of the two major political organisations of the African majority, that is, the Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla) of the PAC and Mkhonto weSizwe (MK) of the ANC.