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Azanian People's Liberation Army

January 01, 1970

The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo,[1][2][3] 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'.

Azanian People's Liberation Army
LeadersPotlako Leballo, Vusumzi Make,
Jafta Masemola, Zephania Mothopeng, Letlapa Mphahlele, John Nyathi Pokela, Sabelo Phama, Jan Shoba
Dates of operation11 September 1961 – June 1994
Active regionsSouth Africa
IdeologyBlack Nationalism
Pan-Africanism
African socialism
StatusInactive
Part ofPan Africanist Congress
OpponentsSouth Africa

After attacks on and the murder of several white families the APLA was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African National government and the United States, and banned.[4]

APLA was disbanded and integrated into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in June 1994.[5]

Etymology edit

In 1968 the "Azanian People's Liberation Army" (or APLA) replaced the defunct name "Poqo", which means pure in Xhosa, a local South African language, as the armed wing of the PAC.[6] Its new name was derived from Azania, the ancient Greek name for Southern Africa.

The name Azania has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa.[7] In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast extending from Kenya,[8] to perhaps as far south as Tanzania.

History edit

Formation and early resistance edit

See also: Sharpeville massacre

Poqo was founded in 1961 following the massacre of PAC-led protestors at the hands of police outside the Sharpeville police station the previous year.[1] Potlako Leballo, the chairman of the PAC at the time of the formation of its military wing in the 1960s, modelled APLA on the Chinese People's Liberation Army, with Templeton Ntantala as his deputy.

Members of Poqo targeted the town of Paarl in the Western Cape on 22 November 1962, when a crowd of over 200 people armed with axes, pangas and other home-made weapons marched from the Mbekweni township into Paarl and attacked the police station, homes and shops.[9] Two white residents, Frans Richard and Rencia Vermeulen were killed.[9] This attack was followed by the murder of a family camping at Bashee River in the Transkei on 4 February 1963. Norman and Elizabeth Grobbelaar, their teenage daughters Edna and Dawn, together with Mr Derek Thompson, were hacked to death in their caravans.[10]

Leballo had planned a massive revolt for 8 April 1963, but Basotholand police managed to track down and raid the PAC's headquarters, seizing a complete list of Poqo members. In the following government crackdown, nearly 2000 Poqo members were sent to prison, almost wiping out the entire organization. Consequently Poqo ceased to be an important participant in the anti-Apartheid struggle during the remainder of the 1960s.[3]

In 1968, the Poqo was renamed APLA and unsuccessfully attempted to form diplomatic and political ties to foreign states and movements. It received some support from China, which attempted to shift the group toward Maoism. PAC leaders, who had been vehemently anti-communist, nevertheless accepted the aid by attempting to rationalize it as being due to the fact that the Chinese were "non-white" and that their value system had not been "tainted by European thought" as they deemed the South African Communist Party to have been. The result was the formation of a small Maoist faction within the APLA that contrasted the strong anti-communist currents within the PAC as a whole. However, the organization's ties with China were short-lived and the pro-Chinese members were soon after purged from the group.[3]

Leadership struggles in exile edit

After the Soweto uprising in 1976, a number of students went into exile in APLA camps elsewhere on the African continent. In 1976, APLA received 500 recruits, including 178 Basotho, for a new Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA), to be formed as an offshoot of the exiled-Basutoland Congress Party under the leadership of Matooane Mapefane, who was a senior instructor of APLA in Libya.[11] Ntantala's original group of 70 APLA soldiers felt threatened by the influx of new recruits, leading Ntantala to attempt a coup against then commander, Potlako Leballo in Dar es Salaam. This was prevented by LLA soldiers, a move which exacerbated tensions within two PAC factions,[12] the "Diplomat-Reformist" (DR) and "Maoist-Revolutionary" (MR) factions. Vusumzi Make's appointment as Leballo's successor sparked a mutiny at Chunya, an APLA camp in Tanzania, on 11 March 1980, during which several APLA forces were killed and the rest further factionalised and confined to different camps; many escaped to Kenya.[13] Leballo himself relocated to Zimbabwe in late 1980 along with senior intelligence and air force personnel from the MR faction. Pressure from Tanzania, however, resulted in his deportation in May–June 1981,[14] as well as the deportation or imprisonment of the others. Make was replaced by John Nyathi Pokela[13] (who was released from Robben Island in 1980), but his ineffectual term of office was marred by further mutinies, executions and assassinations. Following Pokela’s death, Leballo made a comeback through support from Libya, North Korea and Ghana. After his sudden death in January 1986, the DR faction, outmaneuvered by the ANC, fell into disarray leaving behind the legacy of a semi-national socialist political front.

Attacks on white civilians edit

After 1986, APLA rejected the MR faction's concept of the guerrilla as a social reformer and instead adopted an ultimately disastrous rallying cry of "One Settler, One Bullet". In the 1990–94 period, the organisation became known for its attacks on civilians despite the progress in negotiations at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa.[5]

Operation Great Storm edit

 
Notable massacres committed during Operation Great Storm by the Azanian People's Liberation Army between 1990 and 1994.
This map:

In 1991 APLA launched Operation Great Storm,[15] a violent paramilitary campaign aimed at displacing white farmers to reclaim land for black Africans and obtaining arms and funding.[16][17][18] Initially APLA attacked and robbed farmsteads in the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces resulting in a number of farm deaths.[15][19][20] Attacks would later expand to urban civilian targets such as churches, hotels and drinking establishments. The APLA’s chief commander, Sabelo Phama, declared that he "would aim his guns at children - to hurt whites where it hurts most."[21]

Phama proclaimed 1993 as "The Year of the Great Storm"[17] and sanctioned the following attacks on civilians:

In total thirty-two applications were received for attacks on civilians. In these incidents, 24 people were killed and 122 seriously injured.[24]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the PAC-sanctioned action directed towards white South Africans were "gross violations of human rights for which the PAC and APLA leadership are held to be morally and politically responsible and accountable".[25]

End of the armed struggle edit

In April 1992, PAC President Clarence Makwetu declared during the PAC's Annual Congress that his party would now not oppose participation in the multi-racial negotiations to end the apartheid.[26] In spite of their failure to achieve their goals at the negotiations, the PAC decided to participate in the 1994 elections, and PAC leader Clarence Makwetu ordered APLA to end its armed struggle.[27]

Post-1994 edit

In 1994, APLA was disbanded and absorbed into the new South African National Defence Force, although members of the MR-faction refused to accept this agreement. Attempts by MR officers to regroup in Vietnam, North Korea, and China were unsuccessful, although links were maintained with the Tamil Tigers and Maoist groups in Nepal and India.[citation needed] Occasional propaganda leaflets distributed within South Africa focus on disparity of wealth and the issue of land.

Awards edit

See also edit

Further reading edit

  • Leeman, Lieutenant-General Bernard “The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania” in Africa Today, A Multi-Disciplinary Snapshot of the Continent in 1995 Edited by Peter F. Alexander, Ruth Hutchison and Deryck Schreuder The Humanities Research Centre The Australian National University Canberra 1996, pages 172–195 ISBN 0-7315-2491-8

References edit

  1. ^ a b "TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION". www.justice.gov.za. from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ "South Africa - Political Parties". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) - The O'Malley Archives". omalley.nelsonmandela.org. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Pan Africanist Congress timeline 1959-2011". South African History Online. from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Azanian People'S Liberation Army (APLA) - The O'Malley Archives". www.nelsonmandela.org. from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  7. ^ Collins & Pisarevsky (2004). "Amalgamating eastern Gondwana: The evolution of the Circum-Indian Orogens". Earth-Science Reviews.
  8. ^ Richard Pankhurst, An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia, (Lalibela House: 1961), p.21
  9. ^ a b "Violence erupts in Paarl". South African History Online. from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Poqo". South African History Online. from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ Rosenberg, Scott; Weisfelder, Richard F. (2013). Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-081-087-982-9.
  12. ^ South African Democracy Education Trust (2004). The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1970-1980. Unisa Press. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-1-86888-406-3.
  13. ^ a b Kwandiwe Kondlo (2009). In the Twilight of the Revolution: The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa) 1959-1994. Basler Afrika Bibliographien. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-3-905758-12-2.
  14. ^ . MEMIM Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Truth Commission - Special Report - APLA attacksEpisode 41, Section 2, Time 01:00". sabctrc.saha.org.za. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  16. ^ "SAPA - 29 Aug 97 - PAC'S GREAT STORM RETURNS TO HAUNT IT". www.justice.gov.za. 1997. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  17. ^ a b Lephakga, Tshepo (2018). "APLA and the Amnesty Committee of the TRC? An Ethical Analysis of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa" (PDF). Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae. 44 (1): 9. ISSN 2412-4265 – via Scientific Electronic Library Online.
  18. ^ "APLA burns down farm house in Fouriesburg | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Truth Commission - Special Report - Transcript of episode 57, section 4, starting at: 21:24". sabctrc.saha.org.za. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  20. ^ "SAPA - 27 Aug 97 - APLA MEMBERS CLAIM AMNESTY UNDER PAC'S "OPERATION GREAT STORM"". www.justice.gov.za. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "Truth Commission - Special Report - TRC Final Report - Volume 2, Section 1, Chapter". sabctrc.saha.org.za. from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  22. ^ a b "TRC final report - Volume 2 Chapter 7 Subsection 37". SABC. from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ^ Chehabi, H.E. (2016). "South Africa and Iran in the Apartheid Era". Journal of Southern African Studies. 42 (4): 687–709. doi:10.1080/03057070.2016.1201330. S2CID 148456512 – via academia.edu.
  24. ^ TRC Final Report, 6:5:5 2015-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, as presented by the SABC and the South African History Archive. (SAHA)
  25. ^ "Truth Commission - Special Report - TRC Final Report - Volume 2, Section 1, Chapter". sabctrc.saha.org.za. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Pan Africanist Congress timeline 1959-2011". South African History Online. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  27. ^ "SA has moved backwards, says PAC stalwart Makwetu". Mail and Guardian. 24 April 2014. from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.

January 01, 1970
azanian, people, liberation, army, apla, formerly, known, poqo, military, wing, africanist, congress, african, nationalist, movement, south, africa, xhosa, language, word, poqo, means, pure, leaderspotlako, leballo, vusumzi, make, jafta, masemola, zephania, mo. The Azanian People s Liberation Army APLA formerly known as Poqo 1 2 3 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 Azanian People s Liberation ArmyLeadersPotlako Leballo Vusumzi Make Jafta Masemola Zephania Mothopeng Letlapa Mphahlele John Nyathi Pokela Sabelo Phama Jan ShobaDates of operation11 September 1961 June 1994Active regionsSouth AfricaIdeologyBlack Nationalism Pan Africanism African socialismStatusInactivePart ofPan Africanist CongressOpponentsSouth AfricaSucceeded bySouth African National Defence Force After attacks on and the murder of several white families the APLA was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African National government and the United States and banned 4 APLA was disbanded and integrated into the South African National Defence Force SANDF in June 1994 5 Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Formation and early resistance 2 2 Leadership struggles in exile 2 3 Attacks on white civilians 2 3 1 Operation Great Storm 2 4 End of the armed struggle 2 5 Post 1994 3 Awards 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 ReferencesEtymology editIn 1968 the Azanian People s Liberation Army or APLA replaced the defunct name Poqo which means pure in Xhosa a local South African language as the armed wing of the PAC 6 Its new name was derived from Azania the ancient Greek name for Southern Africa The name Azania has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa 7 In the Roman period and perhaps earlier the toponym referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast extending from Kenya 8 to perhaps as far south as Tanzania History editFormation and early resistance edit See also Sharpeville massacre Poqo was founded in 1961 following the massacre of PAC led protestors at the hands of police outside the Sharpeville police station the previous year 1 Potlako Leballo the chairman of the PAC at the time of the formation of its military wing in the 1960s modelled APLA on the Chinese People s Liberation Army with Templeton Ntantala as his deputy Members of Poqo targeted the town of Paarl in the Western Cape on 22 November 1962 when a crowd of over 200 people armed with axes pangas and other home made weapons marched from the Mbekweni township into Paarl and attacked the police station homes and shops 9 Two white residents Frans Richard and Rencia Vermeulen were killed 9 This attack was followed by the murder of a family camping at Bashee River in the Transkei on 4 February 1963 Norman and Elizabeth Grobbelaar their teenage daughters Edna and Dawn together with Mr Derek Thompson were hacked to death in their caravans 10 Leballo had planned a massive revolt for 8 April 1963 but Basotholand police managed to track down and raid the PAC s headquarters seizing a complete list of Poqo members In the following government crackdown nearly 2000 Poqo members were sent to prison almost wiping out the entire organization Consequently Poqo ceased to be an important participant in the anti Apartheid struggle during the remainder of the 1960s 3 In 1968 the Poqo was renamed APLA and unsuccessfully attempted to form diplomatic and political ties to foreign states and movements It received some support from China which attempted to shift the group toward Maoism PAC leaders who had been vehemently anti communist nevertheless accepted the aid by attempting to rationalize it as being due to the fact that the Chinese were non white and that their value system had not been tainted by European thought as they deemed the South African Communist Party to have been The result was the formation of a small Maoist faction within the APLA that contrasted the strong anti communist currents within the PAC as a whole However the organization s ties with China were short lived and the pro Chinese members were soon after purged from the group 3 Leadership struggles in exile edit After the Soweto uprising in 1976 a number of students went into exile in APLA camps elsewhere on the African continent In 1976 APLA received 500 recruits including 178 Basotho for a new Lesotho Liberation Army LLA to be formed as an offshoot of the exiled Basutoland Congress Party under the leadership of Matooane Mapefane who was a senior instructor of APLA in Libya 11 Ntantala s original group of 70 APLA soldiers felt threatened by the influx of new recruits leading Ntantala to attempt a coup against then commander Potlako Leballo in Dar es Salaam This was prevented by LLA soldiers a move which exacerbated tensions within two PAC factions 12 the Diplomat Reformist DR and Maoist Revolutionary MR factions Vusumzi Make s appointment as Leballo s successor sparked a mutiny at Chunya an APLA camp in Tanzania on 11 March 1980 during which several APLA forces were killed and the rest further factionalised and confined to different camps many escaped to Kenya 13 Leballo himself relocated to Zimbabwe in late 1980 along with senior intelligence and air force personnel from the MR faction Pressure from Tanzania however resulted in his deportation in May June 1981 14 as well as the deportation or imprisonment of the others Make was replaced by John Nyathi Pokela 13 who was released from Robben Island in 1980 but his ineffectual term of office was marred by further mutinies executions and assassinations Following Pokela s death Leballo made a comeback through support from Libya North Korea and Ghana After his sudden death in January 1986 the DR faction outmaneuvered by the ANC fell into disarray leaving behind the legacy of a semi national socialist political front Attacks on white civilians edit After 1986 APLA rejected the MR faction s concept of the guerrilla as a social reformer and instead adopted an ultimately disastrous rallying cry of One Settler One Bullet In the 1990 94 period the organisation became known for its attacks on civilians despite the progress in negotiations at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa 5 Operation Great Storm edit nbsp Notable massacres committed during Operation Great Storm by the Azanian People s Liberation Army between 1990 and 1994 This map viewtalkedit In 1991 APLA launched Operation Great Storm 15 a violent paramilitary campaign aimed at displacing white farmers to reclaim land for black Africans and obtaining arms and funding 16 17 18 Initially APLA attacked and robbed farmsteads in the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces resulting in a number of farm deaths 15 19 20 Attacks would later expand to urban civilian targets such as churches hotels and drinking establishments The APLA s chief commander Sabelo Phama declared that he would aim his guns at children to hurt whites where it hurts most 21 Phama proclaimed 1993 as The Year of the Great Storm 17 and sanctioned the following attacks on civilians King William s Town Golf Club on 28 November 1992 killing four people 22 Highgate Hotel in East London on 1 May 1993 killing five people 22 Saint James Church massacre in Kenilworth on 25 July 1993 killing 11 people during a church service 21 Heidelberg Tavern Massacre in Observatory on 31 December 1993 killing four 21 Mdantsane on 11 March 1994 killing three Iranians at a Baha i Faith meeting for being white APLA took responsibility for the attacks stating that The men were shot to show there is no role in the new South Africa for any one of the race that invented apartheid or suppressed the black masses 23 In total thirty two applications were received for attacks on civilians In these incidents 24 people were killed and 122 seriously injured 24 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the PAC sanctioned action directed towards white South Africans were gross violations of human rights for which the PAC and APLA leadership are held to be morally and politically responsible and accountable 25 End of the armed struggle edit In April 1992 PAC President Clarence Makwetu declared during the PAC s Annual Congress that his party would now not oppose participation in the multi racial negotiations to end the apartheid 26 In spite of their failure to achieve their goals at the negotiations the PAC decided to participate in the 1994 elections and PAC leader Clarence Makwetu ordered APLA to end its armed struggle 27 Post 1994 edit In 1994 APLA was disbanded and absorbed into the new South African National Defence Force although members of the MR faction refused to accept this agreement Attempts by MR officers to regroup in Vietnam North Korea and China were unsuccessful although links were maintained with the Tamil Tigers and Maoist groups in Nepal and India citation needed Occasional propaganda leaflets distributed within South Africa focus on disparity of wealth and the issue of land Awards edit nbsp Star for Bravery Gold GSB nbsp Operational Medal for Southern Africa nbsp Bravery Star Silver BSS nbsp Medal for Merit Silver SSM nbsp Decoration for Merit Gold GDM nbsp Medal for Merit Bronze BMM nbsp Service Medal Gold nbsp Service Medal Silver SSM nbsp Service Medal Bronze See also edit nbsp South Africa portal Military history of South Africa Nelson Mandela African National Congress Umkhonto we Sizwe Internal resistance to apartheidFurther reading editLeeman Lieutenant General Bernard The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania in Africa Today A Multi Disciplinary Snapshot of the Continent in 1995 Edited by Peter F Alexander Ruth Hutchison and Deryck Schreuder The Humanities Research Centre The Australian National University Canberra 1996 pages 172 195 ISBN 0 7315 2491 8References edit a b TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION www justice gov za Archived from the original on 5 October 2017 Retrieved 30 April 2018 South Africa Political Parties countrystudies us Retrieved 15 June 2020 a b c Pan Africanist Congress PAC The O Malley Archives omalley nelsonmandela org Retrieved 15 June 2020 The African National Congress website Umkhonto we Sizwe Archived from the original on 20 February 2015 Retrieved 21 January 2015 a b Pan Africanist Congress timeline 1959 2011 South African History Online Archived from the original on 14 November 2015 Retrieved 17 October 2015 Azanian People S Liberation Army APLA The O Malley Archives www nelsonmandela org Archived from the original on 28 February 2017 Retrieved 30 April 2018 Collins amp Pisarevsky 2004 Amalgamating eastern Gondwana The evolution of the Circum Indian Orogens Earth Science Reviews Richard Pankhurst An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia Lalibela House 1961 p 21 a b Violence erupts in Paarl South African History Online Archived from the original on 13 January 2016 Retrieved 17 October 2015 Poqo South African History Online Archived from the original on 22 September 2015 Retrieved 17 October 2015 Rosenberg Scott Weisfelder Richard F 2013 Historical Dictionary of Lesotho Lanham Scarecrow Press p 252 ISBN 978 081 087 982 9 South African Democracy Education Trust 2004 The Road to Democracy in South Africa 1970 1980 Unisa Press pp 17 ISBN 978 1 86888 406 3 a b Kwandiwe Kondlo 2009 In the Twilight of the Revolution The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania South Africa 1959 1994 Basler Afrika Bibliographien pp 209 ISBN 978 3 905758 12 2 Potlako Leballo MEMIM Encyclopedia Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 20 October 2015 a b Truth Commission Special Report APLA attacksEpisode 41 Section 2 Time 01 00 sabctrc saha org za Retrieved 27 January 2024 SAPA 29 Aug 97 PAC S GREAT STORM RETURNS TO HAUNT IT www justice gov za 1997 Retrieved 27 January 2024 a b Lephakga Tshepo 2018 APLA and the Amnesty Committee of the TRC An Ethical Analysis of the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa PDF Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 44 1 9 ISSN 2412 4265 via Scientific Electronic Library Online APLA burns down farm house in Fouriesburg South African History Online www sahistory org za Retrieved 27 January 2024 Truth Commission Special Report Transcript of episode 57 section 4 starting at 21 24 sabctrc saha org za Retrieved 27 January 2024 SAPA 27 Aug 97 APLA MEMBERS CLAIM AMNESTY UNDER PAC S OPERATION GREAT STORM www justice gov za Retrieved 27 January 2024 a b c Truth Commission Special Report TRC Final Report Volume 2 Section 1 Chapter sabctrc saha org za Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 30 April 2018 a b TRC final report Volume 2 Chapter 7 Subsection 37 SABC Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 17 October 2015 Chehabi H E 2016 South Africa and Iran in the Apartheid Era Journal of Southern African Studies 42 4 687 709 doi 10 1080 03057070 2016 1201330 S2CID 148456512 via academia edu TRC Final Report 6 5 5 Archived 2015 11 22 at the Wayback Machine as presented by the SABC and the South African History Archive SAHA Truth Commission Special Report TRC Final Report Volume 2 Section 1 Chapter sabctrc saha org za Retrieved 27 January 2024 Pan Africanist Congress timeline 1959 2011 South African History Online Retrieved 30 April 2021 SA has moved backwards says PAC stalwart Makwetu Mail and Guardian 24 April 2014 Archived from the original on 12 April 2016 Retrieved 3 April 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Azanian People 27s Liberation Army amp oldid 1201350373, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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