David Sibeko
Encyclopedia
David Maphgumzana Sibeko (26 August 1938 in Johannesburg
, South Africa
– 12 June 1979 in Dar es Salaam
, Tanzania
), was known as the "Malcolm X
of South Africa" and began his political career as a journalist for the black South African Magazine Drum. During his tenure with that magazine, he became a leading figure within the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa). During the 1970s he headed the United Nations
Observer Mission of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in New York City and used this position to popularize the PAC particularly among African-Americans. In 1979 Sibeko was partially successful in a leadership coup against Potlako Leballo
. However he failed to get support from the Second Azanian People's Liberation Army, recruited from the 1976 student protest generation and was shot dead during an argument with them at his flat in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 12 June 1979.
David Sibeko's contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa unfortunately is little known. In actuality his influence was pervasive and, some would argue, on par with that of Nelson Mandela. Sibeko adroitly used his position as the head of the PAC Observer Mission at the United Nations as a way to unite diverse sectors of the international black community behind the PAC. Thus he counted among his personal friends and supporters personages as varied as Andrew Young
, Stokely Carmichael
(later known as Kwame Ture), Julius Nyerere
, Louis Farrakhan
, and the heads of state of countries such as Haiti
(pre-Aristide), to Libya
, Egypt
, the future Zimbabwe
, Ghana
, Guinea
, and many more that comprised the Organization of African Unity.
A sharp thinker, and, above all, an eminently practical, big-hearted man with an easy laugh, he could be seen coaxing support from a U.S. State Department official one minute, gathering support from the communist Chinese the next, and persuading the Soviet representatives to assist the PAC in some small matter or another after that. One could easily find the same ANC
officials that would detract him and the PAC during the day, drinking, eating (he would personally cook for his guests), and laughing at his apartment on West End Avenue in New York City that same evening. Had he remained as a highly effective diplomat as a counter balance to the revolutionary activities of the younger generation the PAC would have continued as a serious rival to the ANC.
Sampson, A. South Africa 1978-1979. Johannesburg: Black and Gold
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
– 12 June 1979 in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
), was known as the "Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
of South Africa" and began his political career as a journalist for the black South African Magazine Drum. During his tenure with that magazine, he became a leading figure within the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa). During the 1970s he headed the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Observer Mission of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in New York City and used this position to popularize the PAC particularly among African-Americans. In 1979 Sibeko was partially successful in a leadership coup against Potlako Leballo
Potlako Leballo
Potlkako Leballo was an Africanist who led the Pan Africanist Congress until 1979. Leballo was co-founder of the Basutoland African Congress in 1952 and a World War II veteran and primary school headmaster.-Early Years:...
. However he failed to get support from the Second Azanian People's Liberation Army, recruited from the 1976 student protest generation and was shot dead during an argument with them at his flat in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 12 June 1979.
David Sibeko's contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa unfortunately is little known. In actuality his influence was pervasive and, some would argue, on par with that of Nelson Mandela. Sibeko adroitly used his position as the head of the PAC Observer Mission at the United Nations as a way to unite diverse sectors of the international black community behind the PAC. Thus he counted among his personal friends and supporters personages as varied as Andrew Young
Andrew Young
Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations...
, Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael
Kwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
(later known as Kwame Ture), Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
, Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
, and the heads of state of countries such as Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
(pre-Aristide), to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the future Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, and many more that comprised the Organization of African Unity.
A sharp thinker, and, above all, an eminently practical, big-hearted man with an easy laugh, he could be seen coaxing support from a U.S. State Department official one minute, gathering support from the communist Chinese the next, and persuading the Soviet representatives to assist the PAC in some small matter or another after that. One could easily find the same ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
officials that would detract him and the PAC during the day, drinking, eating (he would personally cook for his guests), and laughing at his apartment on West End Avenue in New York City that same evening. Had he remained as a highly effective diplomat as a counter balance to the revolutionary activities of the younger generation the PAC would have continued as a serious rival to the ANC.
See also
- Apartheid
- Sharpeville MassacreSharpeville massacreThe Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal . After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69...
- Black Consciousness MovementBlack Consciousness MovementThe Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
- Pan Africanism
Further reading
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 0-7315-2491Sampson, A. South Africa 1978-1979. Johannesburg: Black and Gold