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1963

One of the few surviving pictures of Robert Sobukwe on Robben Island. The photograph was taken in 1965, recalls Benjamin Pogrund, as evidence of Sobukwe’s good health.

Robert Sobukwe,

Pretoria Prison,

to Veronica Sobukwe,

26 March 1963 (Bc2)

Hello Darling,

Since my future is still so uncertain, I thought I should take this opportunity to tell you just how much your courage and love have meant to me during all these years of my imprisonment. Human nature is a queer thing, Darling. It is quite possible that after a time I may forget what you suffered on my behalf. That is why I want you to have this written testimony from me so that we both of us can go back to it in future. I just wish to say, Child, that you have been a magnificent wife and mother. You have been everything I could have wished my wife to be. And I mean that, Little Woman. And the children, too, will agree with me!

I received a letter from Buti.¹ He didn’t have much to say except to express the hope that we will soon meet. By the way is J.D.² back yet or does he no longer intend to return to Joh’burg?

Then there is the question of my wood & coal business in Standerton. Segegede and I went 50-50 and money can be withdrawn from the bank only if the cheque bears the signatures of both of us. We placed some amount in fixed deposit, renewable every year in July. This was [illegible].

Please tell Stan that Emmanuel’s wife has written to say she won’t be coming to see him any further. She is employed and finds it impossible to come during the week. Will he please arrange that somebody else visit the boy? We would be extremely pleased if Z.B.³ could do so even if it is just once. And of course Perry can do so – as a prospective sister-in-law.

I shall be getting the next Reader’s Digest early next month. You can write immediately to the Head Office in Cape Town to tell them to send the May Issue to 684 Mofolo and all the other issues from then on. You can forward them from Joh’burg to wherever I am or we can make further arrangements later. But please inform them, Sweet, of the change of address. It requires six weeks advance notice.

You can inform Benjie [Pogrund] too, to make arrangements for the May issue and subsequent issues of the English Digest to be mailed to Mofolo. I have not yet received the London Harper’s magazine.

If Mercy⁴ wishes to write please let her do so and if she can accompany you on your next visit let her do so. I would like to see her.

Well, Kid, give my love and greetings to the boys. If you do write to Mili and Dini tell them I shall reply to their letters. In the meantime let them study and behave as my children should!!

I’ll [illegible]

Robert Sobukwe,

Robben Island,

to Veronica Sobukwe,

22 May 1963 (Bc3)

Darling,

I thought I would wait until I received one from you, informing me about your journey back. But I remembered that your hands are full and so is your heart.

I am still well though a bit lonely. I have derived great comfort and strength from Dr Peale’s book⁵ as well as from your visit. Your courage is magnificent, Little Woman. I thank God for a number of things and one of them, an important one for our earthly lives, is that he gave me you for a wife. I mean it. In one of his books, Robert Louis Stevenson writes of his wife that “She was as true to me as truest steel.”⁶ That is what I would say about you, too. Keep your chin up, Little Girl, and cling fast to your faith.

Thanks for the photos. I got them subsequently. How fine the children look! God and you have looked after them better than I could ever have done. I loved Dedani’s smile. It is so open and fresh! Dali is either shy or extremely mischievous. In all the photos he is biting his lip. Mili and Dini have grown fast indeed.

I have not heard from Fabian⁷ yet nor has the money come. I am hoping to get my lectures as soon as possible so that I can have something to tie me down to a fixed programme.

I had hoped to ask Dennis⁸ to pay my fees. But I read recently that he had been sentenced to three years for continuing the activities of PAC. He was sentenced together with Mpumelelo [Mhlalisi], the boy who played with Dini when you visited Den[nis]. There were two others. They all got three years. I hope to write to his wife soon, to console her.

But this means that I shall have to depend on you then for the fees. I don’t know what they will be, but I have a feeling that with books and all it won’t work out at less than R80 (£40) a year. A very heavy bit, you will agree.

What papers did you arrange for and for how long? I received a letter from Prof Wellington⁹ in which he stated a desire to pay me a visit. I asked him to send me his two volumes on Geography.

The cable from Cannon Collins¹⁰ was forwarded to me from Pretoria. But I have not received the money. I do not know where they sent it. If you get it you will decide what to do with it.

By the way, you did not pack my black shoes, Darling. What you did pack were my slippers – black. And as you know this pair of brown shoes I have here needs immediate repair.

I wrote to Buti but I have not got his reply yet. I know they are worried. I told him in my letter that you would pass Graaff-Reinet if the detour was not too much, as the people who were driving you had to get back to work the following day and so did you.

Mercy¹¹ wrote, too, and her letter was re-directed from Pretoria. She commented on the health and activity of the twins.

Cheerio, darling. Love to the kids, Mama and friends.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

2 July 1963 (Bd2.10)

Dear Mrs Marquard,¹²

I received your letter on the 30th June and, as always, enjoyed it immensely. I am glad to know that Mr Marquard’s condition has improved. Asthma can be very nasty and [illegible] customer. I hope he recovers completely because, like you, I am not yet ready to believe that climate is irrelevant to the condition.

Yes, I know Colesberg and I know Norvals Pont too.¹³ Would your father by any means have been Rev. Andrew Murray, born in Graaff-Reinet 9th May 1828 and who died at Wellington January 18th 1919?¹⁴ You did mention in one of your earlier letters that your Murrays were religious and were not engaged in farming, but you did not say you were the daughter of one of them! Incidentally the details I have quoted above I obtained from a book I am reading, The Murray Tribute, written by [illegible] Murray [illegible].¹⁵

With reference to your question about furring, the article merely states that “Armand¹⁶ devised an ingenious additive to the water which prevented furring. It doubled the life of the train, allowed the railway to reduce its stock of engines and eliminated a thoroughly nasty job. It won him praise and, aged thirty-four, promotion to chief engineer.” Very illuminating and helpful you’ll agree.

No I haven’t read Eugene Marais’¹⁷ book. But the story is really delightful, though not very flattering to human beings.

Your story about Dr Adler¹⁸ was very interesting indeed. And I agree that it is necessary to collect the medicine lore of our Africans as soon as possible. Witchdoctors are an interesting lot – outstanding psychologists. Some have a profound knowledge of herbs. There is a belief that those born to be “lingata” cannot escape their destiny. They become seriously ill and may even become insane if they do not heed the call. The lady who was my teacher in Sub A threw up teaching and joined this fraternity. I have been assured that she is a very competent practitioner. In Xhosa we distinguish between the Igqirha whose sole job is to “diagnose”, which might include smelling out witches, and the ixhwele (with a lateral click) who prepares the potions. The Igqirha sends his patients to the ixhwele in the same way as some doctors send patients to the chemist.

I dislike “Hamlet”, I believe, because from the first I was told that it was Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. My teachers waxed poetic when they discussed the play. I read “Julius Caesar”, “Macbeth” “King Lear” and enjoyed them. I read “Hamlet” and, I am afraid, didn’t feel that it was greater than the others, either in language or in construction. It is said that Sir Laurence Olivier’s “Othello” is a masterpiece. I haven’t seen any of Shakespeare’s plays either in the theatre or on the screen. It is entirely through books that I have made his acquaintance.

In your reply please tell me what vegetable seeds can be sown and give me whatever information you can about water melons and sweet melons – when sown and how.

Again, thanks for your letter. Hoping for better news about Mr Marquard.

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

P.S. With regard to Hamlet, then, I believe my dislike stems from sheer perverseness because all the others think highly of him, to show my independence of mind I have to class the play as indifferent. I’ll try and find the reasons through ruthless self-analysis! RMS

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

4 July 1963 (Bc4)

Hello Darling,

Thank you for both your letters, one dated 13th and the other 20th June.

I had also written to you, two weeks ago I think, suggesting that we hand over the money to the Defence and Aid Fund people. Then I received your letter to the effect that you had already fetched the money and placed it in the bank – fixed deposit. As I had said in an earlier letter, it is your money really, not mine. I won’t press the point about Defence & Aid, then. You will do as you think best.

I have replied to Fabian’s letter. I received the money and have already bought the kettle and iron. The radio is on the way. I have not bought a typewriter nor have I applied for an electric recorder.¹⁹ These items are extremely expensive and will take up all that R100 and still leave us in debt. An electric recorder alone will work out at about R50 and a typewriter the same. Fabian has no experience of gaol life, Sweet. You have, through caring for me for these past three years. You will have to pull him up now and again. I have written to him, too, to acquaint him of the position.

I agree with you that you must be nearer either me or the children. And I want to say, Kid, that I shall be extremely happy if you can get a post nearer Mili and Dini. You will then have no worries either about Dedani and Dali. I am grown up, Child. I know you love me absolutely. I NEVER, even for a moment, doubt your love for me. But the kids need your presence. They must never lack mother-love if we can help it. So, please try for a post near them.

Thank you for the dates about the Papers. As you will have noticed in my earlier letter, I thought Pogrund was responsible for the Rand papers. Thank you, Kid.

I received the parcel, Darling. Thank you indeed. The pyjamas were the exact size and extremely welcome. So were the shoes. Incidentally, I don’t remember the black shoes. The brown I recognised immediately. The sports shirts made my heart go around. They are lovely. Your choice of colours is wonderful. BUT, Darling, they are too small. Now please don’t get disappointed. I would not have admitted that they are small. I do so because I fear you may buy others. These won’t be wasted, Child. We will put them aside for Dini. Nothing that is done for love can ever be a mistake. Don’t blame yourself. In shirts I buy 16½ collar. I don’t know how one expresses that in sports shirts. Thank you for the jersey too. I now have three! There is the black one I had, then this green one you’ve sent. And this morning I received a fawn one from Mercy. She says she did not get a chance to show it to you before sending it off. She has some good things to say about you and the kids.

I have also received a warm vest, a pair of socks and a brown sports coat from Mam Tshawe. The coat sleeves are a little short and the jacket is a bit tight round the shoulders, but it is a lovely one. It appears I shall soon have to open a drapery shop around here.

Congrats to the kids. I pray for you all daily as I have done for the past three years. I am glad you have found them a place.²⁰ I am certain they’ll be happy, particularly if you could soon be near them.

Thanks for the advice about soap flakes. I’ll remember it. I have bought a lovely Picture Album – so let those snaps roll in! Father Webber²¹ has sent me an expensive Bible. I am receiving Bibles & books all round. If you can make it down here, I’ll be very pleased, of course, though in my last letter I pointed out that it would be an expensive journey.

Well, Good bye Little Woman. Love to the kids, Mama & friends.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

29 July 1963 (Bc5)

My darling Mrs Sobukwe,

We’ve been having particularly cold weather this week with overcast, lowering skies, winds that howl like banshees and a tumultuous, obstreperous sea – altogether a picture which should be depressing but one that never fails to touch a chord in my heart.

It is said that our feelings are coloured, if not determined, by the state of the weather. To me, cold and rain have always been associated with a warm fire place and love and laughter. No wonder, therefore, that you have been particularly in my mind this week. And on Tuesday I celebrated your birthday with thanks and gratitude. I shall celebrate Mili’s tomorrow in the same way. I am sorry I could not in person give you a birthday present that will in a very small way convey my esteem for you two girls and my gratitude for your love. I do hope my letter arrived in time to wish you a Happy Birthday.

I received, yesterday, a parcel of warm sheets, shirts, underwear, socks, trousers and hankies from Benjie. As usual they were beautiful patterns. I felt he had consulted you! He must have spent a very tidy sum indeed. I shall soon send you my measurements so that you should have my grey suit altered accordingly. The rest you can send to Charles.²² I am sending my old stuff to Nenti²³ to dispose of as she pleases.

I received a letter from Fabian last week. He was in great form. I have been harangueing him on the Basutoland elections and the part played by the Roman Catholic Church to ensure the victory of Chief Leabua.²⁴ I told him a bit about Alice and how I met a certain lady during a [illegible] in 1949. I didn’t tell him, of course, that one evening in the sitting room at Mary Balmer²⁵ I didn’t hear a word of what my companion was saying because I was listening to a voice behind me! I don’t think they should know that a little skinny girl shook my heart so.

I have also heard from Mrs Marquard. She spent a few weeks in Johannesburg and is now in P’Maritzburg. Her husband, she tells me, has had repeated severe attacks of asthma and their doctor advised them to try the drier air of the interior.

I have not received the “Cape Times” yet and now the “Sunday Times” too have begun to behave erratically. I did not receive the issue of the 13th & 20th June and the 20th July nor have I received this week’s issue (25th July). I have written to the C.N.A.²⁶ in Joh’burg to enquire. But [illegible].

How were the kids? I wondered how you were faring with the coal shortage reportedly acute on the Reef. Graaff-Reinet, too, had severe snowfalls. The drifts between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg were rendered impassable, the mountains were covered in layers of glistening crackling ice. The scenic beauty and grandeur are such as to fill an artist’s heart to the brim. But there were practical problems of fuel and food which concern hundreds of thousands of non-artists. I have not heard yet from Buti. He is the one who gives the news in detail. Nenti and Tshawe are too immersed in Church affairs and the only people they write about are our Church friends.

Well, this is enough for the present. Cheerio Kid & love to the other kids.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Eulalie Stott,

Newlands, Cape Town,

to Benjamin Pogrund,

11 August 1963 (Ba1.2)

Dear Benjamin,

Thank you for your letter of 23rd July and for the copies of certificates enclosed.

I have seen the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Wilman and he had agreed to give the necessary visitors permit to Mrs. Sobukwe. He says she must write direct to him and ask him to send the permit to me. Then when she arrives in Cape Town, if the Magistrate’s Office is closed, it will not matter as I will have it and she will be able to take the boat to the Island in the Morning.

I asked for permission to visit myself – but was refused.

I shall almost certainly be able to arrange accommodation at an Hotel nearer town this time and will be able to do so as soon as you give me the word. I think that for all sorts of reasons it is best for the party to stay together and at an hotel, where they are quite independent.

Meanwhile I shall continue trying to find suitable employment. Has an official approach been made in this connection?

I suggest that I be sent a copy of the letter to the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Wilman, so that I know when to watch out for the permit and to make enquiries if it does not reach me by the Friday. Please do not forget to mention in the letter the reason for wanting the permit to be sent here, viz. that Mrs Sobukwe will be likely to arrive after the Magistrate’s Office is closed.

Glad to help people in distress.

Sincerely,

Eulalie Stott²⁷

P.S. Terribly busy fighting municipal election. Hold thumbs, please.

Veronica Sobukwe

to the Chief Magistrate,

Cape Town,

[1963] (Ba1.8)²⁸

Sir,

I shall be privileged if you could, Sir, allow me an interview with you to discuss the possibility of my joining my husband, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe during my forthcoming leave. He is detained on Robben Island.

I realise that you are very busy and that an interview may not be possible. If this is so, I shall be extremely happy to have your written permission allowing me to stay on Robben Island for the period of my leave.

My leave starts on the 22nd November, 1963 and is for a period of 28 days.

Wishing that my application will receive your favourable consideration.

Yours faithfully

Veronica Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

22 August 1963 (Bc6)

Hello Darling,

I haven’t heard from you for quite a time now and was beginning to feel anxious, but Benjie’s letter assured me you were all right. And I was happy. Benjie also informed me that you intended to pay me a visit this month and I presume that your failure to have done so before now has been caused by the formidable difficulties of transport.

I have heard from Wolsey Hall.²⁹ They received Fabian’s cheque for £50. That settles the matter of my fees and textbooks. I have written to Fabian and he’ll tell you what I said, I am sure.

Benjie sent me a good number of books and a photograph of their daughter, Jennifer. Quite a healthy and sweet little thing. Charles, too, has written and has sent me R1 (one). I appreciated the gesture because I know he just hasn’t a penny to spare. He tells me they have reduced his salary to that of a female assistant – about £18! He assures me, however, that this time he means business about having Mercy back. He is saving toward his lobola³⁰ – so he says!

How are you, Little Woman? And what were the June holidays like with the kids around? You haven’t reported anything about Mili’s chest, so I take it she has got over her trouble completely now. I sincerely pray she does. She can’t afford to be losing classes every year. I must say she looks excellent in the photographs – a real glamour girl!

By the way, Charles wishes to visit Joh’burg, but fears that in my absence there will be nobody to show him the sights. I have told him not to worry. First of all you will be happy to have him there and as for entertainment he won’t lack it. Off-hand I can think of Matebula and Vara³¹ who will be too happy to make him feel at home. He says he is keen to see the boys. Apparently Mercy has been sending them glowing reports about the twins.

Dini’s report, of course, has sent Buti raving. He ran out of adjectives trying to describe his achievement. That boy has a very bright future, all right. And so has Mili. She is an intelligent kid, only very shy, as her mother is. And so was I too, before I started teaching.

I do hope you received my telegram asking you to send my Degree Certificates. One of them, I believe, is in your suitcase – the big one. Perhaps both are there, I am not sure.

I wrote to Dennis’ wife³² as I said I would, but I have not received any reply from her yet. I advised her to continue running the shop, if that were possible.

Did you manage to place the kids in a boarding school? I pray that you have, because that will relieve you of one cause of anxiety at least. And how is the work going on? When are you on night duty again? And which are your days off? I was doing some washing on Saturday and when I had finished, I found the smell of the soap on my hands so fresh and clean – just like you!

You have really made an impression on Mercy. She thinks the world of you as a nurse, a mother and a wife. So does Benjie. But your husband thinks that all they can say about you is but a pale reflection of the truth. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about his wife in these words: “She was as true to me as truest steel.” All I say about my wife is that she was God’s gift to me.

Well, Kid, give my love to Dedani & Dali and all friends. Tell Mama I am all right. She should not worry.

God bless you child.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

13 September 1963 (Bc7)

Hullo Little Woman!

What a pleasure it was to read your letter. Your voice rang through every sentence I read and for that reason I have read it over and over again.

I wrote to Mili last week. I hope she’ll be able to read my Sotho. The trouble is we had evolved a new Sotho orthography at the Wits³³ and in my letter to Mili I used it here and there. It seems so childish to me to have to write ke a tsamaea³⁴ as three words when in fact it is one word keatsamaea. I give you your due there, Zulu is more logical in that direction, writing it ngiyahamba. Xhosa for no reason at all has decided to take the middle course with ndiya hamba.

I am glad you were able to have the kids placed, darling. I do hope Mili settles down and is successful in her exams. […] Yes, you told me about Dlanga, Baby, and there is no fear of my becoming jealous. I know you too well to distrust you. I have told you time and again that you are a rare woman. I did not say that to flatter you. I mean it.

I have not yet received the certificates. Please send them as soon as you can, Child. I cannot register at the University until I have sent the certificates. And what about the photographs? I have the Album – all I lack are the pictures!

I received an interesting letter from Fabian. He told me [he] was going to see you that week. I have also received one from Buti. He is just as ignorant as Fabian is of Prison procedure!

The lectures might arrive any day now though no tuition is offered by Wolsey Hall in two of the subjects I have chosen. I hope to get information about the books I can read on them. The subjects are: Introduction to Scientific Method and Structure of International Society. If I can’t get books on them I’ll be compelled to take two others in their stead. I’d be sorry to do so because I really am interested in these two.

By the way, Fabian tells me Hilda had a Caesarean. Is it a boy or girl? How many are there now? And what about Jimmy?³⁵ Isn’t he a sub-inspector yet? And what about Tennyson Nyovane? Is he is still with the Joh’burg Municipality?

I have started work on the garden. The soil is extremely sandy and is infested with slugs and snails. I intend to lay out a vegetable garden and a small flower plot. How is your garden faring? If I have as much success with this one as we had with ours at home I’ll be delirious with joy.

Tell Fabian I received the four records he ordered and I have acquired two more. I have looked through the papers, Kid: electric recorders are very dear – in the neighbourhood of R50. I can’t afford that. Fabian has already spent over £100 on me. And, of course, you have borne the burden for years now, ALONE. And you need every penny for the kids. I wrote Mili that we wanted them to go as far with their education as they wished.

I shall not be able to send Birthday cards in time for the twins’ birthday. Will you please buy them, Sweet, and present them on behalf of both of us? I may be able to send them a little birthday present later on. I’ll send them a telegram, at least.

Where is Jabi working at present? Is she still with you or is she at Pimville? Give my greetings to her, please. She has been fond of me in her sulky way. How is Mama’s arm?

I am O.K. Kid and thank you for the R10 you sent me through Benjie. He told me about the trousers and that the two of you thought that my taste in clothes is too conservative! Well I wonder what you’ll feel like when you see me in the loud shirts and ties, the pointed shoes and narrow trousers sported by the fashionable crowd. I’ll NEVER wear those things, Sweet. I am not going to be ordered about by fashion designers!

Well, cheerio Kid. God bless you. Love to the boys and to Mili & Dini when next you see them.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

P.S. I have just received the photographs. What a pleasure! Thanks a lot, Kid. Keep on sending them. You all haven’t changed this bit!! “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever” says Keats. I agree. Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

28 September 1963 (Bc8)

Hello Darling!

I sent you a telegram last week asking you to forward the original certificates and to keep the copies. It is something we should have done earlier. But then I never could do things when they should have been done.

A copy of the Regulations I received from the University of London states that they will NOT accept copies from overseas students. They fear, probably, that students will forge copies, although, if they were to ask me, I could tell them that even originals are forged by some people.

I think I told you that I had written to Mili. My next letter will have to be addressed to Dini. I have ordered two “Junior” books from the Reader’s Digest. I hope to give those to Dedani & Dali as their birthday gifts.

I read in the Press quite recently of a new method of teaching English that they have introduced into Kenya schools with spectacular results. As soon as I found out whether they have published any books on the subject I’ll let you know so that you may start on the young fellows there at home.

Thank you for the photographs. They tell a whole story. They took me back to Lovedale, to Ladysmith, to Baragwanath³⁶ with Mili absolutely helpless in our hands, to Graaff-Reinet with a taxi rushing Dalindyebo to the doctor, to Ma Simelane pushing their prams to the clinic. I even remember you carrying Dini on your back every morning to White City.³⁷ What a life it has been!

When I saw your photograph with Dini in Durban and also at the clinic, memories came rushing back. And I remember our one table and one chair borrowed from Mama. We started right from the bottom, Little Girl, and turned a house into a home. Our one fault was that as we went forward, we tended to forget the One who had brought us together, and has blessed us with all we have! It will never happen again, I assure you.

The Defence and Aid people wrote me from their Cape Town offices asking if there was anything I needed. I asked them for vegetable and flower seeds. I was hoping that by the time you visited me they would be ready so that you could take back with you, for Mama, flowers and vegetables from my own garden. I don’t think that the hope will be realised. It is rather late now.

I have had my teeth attended to. That “gate” that they made at the Wits,³⁸ I have had filled up. You’ll see the “bridge” when you come. It has not been fitted yet.

Father Webber of Pretoria has written to say he is very anxious to meet you and I have assured him that you are just as eager to make his acquaintance. When you visit Vemba³⁹ next, please ask them to take you to meet him.

The lectures still haven’t come though I have received a letter informing me that they are on the way. All that remains now is for me to register with London University before the end of the year and then I’ll be able to settle down to solid work.

I have plenty of reading matter and am receiving more week by week from people I have never met.

We are having glorious weather down here though the days can be depressingly hot.

The days I still find difficult are Saturday evenings and Sundays. They remind me too much of baking in the kitchen and that “Brunch” on Sunday between 11 and 12! And yet, when I was still a convict at Stofberg,⁴⁰ those were the days we looked forward to eagerly, because they were days of “rest” after a week of perpetual motion and weariness. How strange we human beings are, and how short our memories are, too, don’t you think?

Lauretta [Ngcobo]⁴¹ too, has written. She says they are in Swaziland with Stanley and his wife. She has a teaching post at Manzini. Stanley’s wife is a trained nurse. She’ll probably find a post, too, though she’s been working in a factory in Johburg because of varicose veins. In a factory she can at least rest her legs whereas as a nurse she has to be on her feet the whole day! You girls have wonderful stamina, for sure!

Well, cheerio, Little Woman. Give my love to Dini’s “dogs”? and to Mama, Jabi etc. Thank you for news about Vara and Mongeka.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

11 October 1963 (Bd1.1)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you for the magazines – The New Yorker, Life and The Listener.

Although I have listed The Listener last, it is the first on my list of preferences. It’s the first time I have read it. I had heard of it, yes, most probably even seen it. But I had not read it until I got the copies you sent. And what a pleasure it was to read!

I have a further reason now for asking you to continue the “good work” you have started. I have registered with the University of London for the BSc. Econ. degree and my tutor in British Government has recommended the reading of good newspapers and journals. Among the many that he lists is “The Listener” (very good indeed). The brackets and comment are his!

I have quite a busy day. Besides studying and reading (I have quite a wide range of reading matter – from the Bible to G.B.S.⁴²). At the moment I am reading [George] Orwell’s 1984. I have just finished The Ugly American),⁴³ I also do some gardening. I have a fairly large garden, larger than my Mofolo one. But the soil in this part of the country is – I am sure you’ll agree, patriotic Capetonian though you are – the despair of the amateur gardener. The vegetables (carrots, beetroot, beans) have somehow germinated but the flowers have not yet announced their arrival. Should both flowers and vegetables bear fruit, however, I’ll undertake to make the Sahara blossom.

I have had trouble with some of my friends who seem to believe that I have become a tardy correspondent of late because I do not reply promptly to their letters. The Press apparently, gave the impression that I could write an unlimited number of letters. In fact I am allowed two a week and have to ration my replies on the strict basis of “First come, first serve” except, to be truthful, in the case of my wife who demands and to whom I have granted the right to jump the queue.

Again, thank you for the journals. Your choice of this issue of “Life” was a generous gesture to the Americans – proving to sceptics that they ARE capable of intellectual production!

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Benjamin Pogrund,

105 Earls Court,

2nd Avenue, Killarney,

Johannesburg,

to Veronica Sobukwe,

25 October 1963 (Ba1.3)

Dear Mrs. Sobukwe,

I am sorry that I missed you yesterday afternoon. I waited until 4 p.m. and then decided that you must have been unable to get a lift into town.

I saw Mrs. Stott again and she has promised to go into the matter of a record player without delay. Should it prove impossible for you to stay on the Island with Bob, Mrs. Stott will arrange accommodation for you in Cape Town. Please let me know as soon as you receive a reply to your application to stay on the Island.

In the meantime, I hope you will not fail to contact me if you should need anything at all.

Best wishes,

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

7 November 1963 (Bc9)

Hello Darling!

Thank you for your letter. It was pleasantly surprising to note how alike our thoughts were about the books I sent the boys. As you will see in my letter preceding this one, I, too, referred to the interesting stories and games found in them. I am glad you think Dini and Mili will find the books useful.

I received a letter from Mili last week, just a day before I received yours and Mercy’s and Bhuti’s. Mili complains, Darling, that their school fees and book fees have not yet been paid and tells me rather sadly that if they are not settled in time, then she and Dini will not be allowed to go home.

I am, therefore, writing so that you may settle the matter quickly. I remember your telling me that you had sent their fees as well as some pocket money. Well, Mili tells me she would have written to me earlier but she did not have money for stamps! Please CHECK IMMEDIATELY whether the money you sent did reach the school authorities. I know you are busy with a thousand and one things, all demanding money and attention. But please, Child, attend to this matter immediately.

She tells me that she has done badly in Arithmetic in what she calls the August Test. […] She says she is extremely disappointed! But I am not worried. I got 2/5 when I was doing Std II but went on to top the next few classes in Arithmetic. She must NEVER gain the impression that she is a dunce or that to fail even one subject is a disgrace. Churchill was mediocre at school and went into the Army because he was good for nothing else. But he was exceptionally good in English and history and he built his future on those two gifts.

I am looking forward with keen anticipation to your proposed visit – like a child in wild anticipation, waiting for a journey home!

Yes, darling, the lectures have come. There are two more subjects in which I have to receive lectures. Those should be done any time this month. The work is most interesting; but the notes are sketchy requiring wide reading. Of course they assume that their students have access to the libraries in Britain since the lectures are primarily meant for students resident there. I have no alternative but to get the books, although I am really sorry to have loaded you with this burden at this time of the year, when you need every penny for your journey and for Christmas.

Incidentally I notice that Mili’s address, as given by her, is different from the one you sent me. She gives me her address as:

Emmanuel Mission School,

P.O. Box 274,

Ficksburg,

Orange Free State.

Just try this address when you write. Also please drop her a note too, to tell her everything is all right. If you find Sotho too tough you will have to write SIMPLE SENTENCES in English! […]

Oh yes, Mili says she is looking well after Dini! But girls are not allowed to do washing for boys. So, she asks, who will do the washing for Dedani and Dali if you send them to school with her next year? She is quite a responsible girl, really.

Well, darling, so long for the time being. God bless you.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

7 November 1963 (Ba1.4)

My dear Bob,

My deepest apologies for taking so long to answer your last most welcome letter.⁴⁴ I have been up to my ears in work as a result of leaving the [Rand Daily] Mail to undertake my research project. After more than five years on the paper, I am almost part of the furniture there, and leaving has been an almighty wrench. I am, however, receiving a monthly retainer and am also going in to work every Sunday night.

I saw your wife a few days ago and can report that she is keeping well. When I asked after the children, her face lit up – which is perhaps the best indication of their welfare that I can give you. I am sorry that her projected trip to Cape Town did not come off, but as you no doubt know, she will be down for several weeks from later this month. I shall be seeing her before her departure in case I can be of any assistance to her. Mrs. Eulalie Stott of Cape Town was up here recently. She is keen to give you all possible aid and I discussed ways and means with her.

As requested, I sent off the originals of your academic certificates to Oxford with a letter that the certificates should be returned to me. I was under the impression that you intended doing your studies through the University of South Africa. If this is in fact your intention and you are encountering any administrative difficulties, please let me know so that I can try to get them sorted out.

I hope the parcel of books has now reached you and that they have given you some pleasure. Dr. Ellen Hellmann⁴⁵ has given me another batch of books and I will be sending this down to you soon. Also, Ernie Wentzel⁴⁶ is arranging for the London “Observer” to be sent to you, while I have arranged renewals of the “English Digest” and “John O’London”.⁴⁷ Please let me know if the mix-up with the Reader’s Digest has been sorted out yet and also whether there are any other papers or books you want. Mrs. Stott, by the way, will ensure that you continue to receive the Mail, the “Sunday Times” and “Sunday Express”.

I am sorry that you have been caused distress in reading the Mail. When I read your statement (“I have had to bite my teeth at times as I read your views”) I tried to think back to which of my articles could possibly have upset you so much.⁴⁸ I cannot recall any in the past few months in which I have expressed very strong views one way or the other – which might, of course, be an indication of how well-adjusted I am to the current South African situation.

Did you see our recent series of articles on the Churches, and if so, what did you think of them?⁴⁹

I was in Basutoland recently and saw Z.B.⁵⁰ He is teaching there and keeping reasonably well. He sent you his best wishes.

I shall be in Cape Town in January or February for several weeks and am looking forward to being able to visit you, although I do earnestly hope that you will have been freed by then.

In the meantime, very warmest greetings to you from Astrid and me. We hope that your spirit remains as high as it has been and that your courage is not flagging. We pray for your welfare and that of your family.

Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

20 November 1963 (Ba1.5)

Dear Benjie

Thank you for your interesting and most welcome letter. I was on the point of writing to thank you for the trousers. I just couldn’t have chosen a better shade myself. If that is what you call breaking with conservatism, Benjie, then you are a first class gradualist!⁵¹

Congratulations!!! Your interviews were superb. You discontinued them too soon. I could picture your victims squirming and ah-ah-ing, attempting to put you off with the usual meaningless pious platitudes.⁵² But you brought them back to the point mercilessly. I felt like the small three-year old fellow whose mother woke up one night in the midst of a tremendous thunderstorm and hurried to his room fearing that she would find him terrified. But there he was at the window, jumping up and down and shouting with excited joy as each flash of lightning burst across the sky, “bang it again, Lord, bang it again!” I, too, felt like shouting, “hold him, there, Benjie, hold him there!” Thanks, old chap, it was a kingly banquet.

Incidentally, in the story of the little boy, are there any cultural points that suggest whether he is white or black? What are they? I’ll be glad to get your answer and that of any “expert” you may feel inclined to sound.

Thank you for news about my wife and the many friends who have offered help. I wrote to my wife three weeks ago suggesting that we should discontinue subscription for the Rand papers. They arrive here rather late. For instance today is Tuesday (I have postdated the letter) and I received Saturday’s Daily Mail and the two Sunday papers today. In addition I wanted today’s Cape Times and yesterday’s Cape Argus. And except for an odd item or two, the Cape Times, particularly, covers the same field as the Rand papers. And it isn’t as if I lack reading material, Benjie. I have enough and to spare, thanks to you and my many friends.

I have renewed my subscriptions for the Reader’s Digest. But I gave them a piece of my mind. They have continued sending my copies to Pretoria. I didn’t receive the July issue. The Colonel, here, lent me his own copy. Then came the August issue. But not the September and October issues. The November issue has been sent here to me with the information that they have noted my change of address. Work efficiency, indeed!

I am doing Economics, Economic History, British Government, Introduction to International Law and Ethics as applied to Social Organisation as the five subjects required in the Part I of the B.Sc. Economics degree. But, oh, the amount of reading required! The books alone will cost over £110 or R80 in the new currency. Were I outside I would be able to borrow most of the books from the library, but being here, I have no option but to buy them. That is the reason I am cutting down on newspapers. One of the journals recommended is The Listener and Mrs Marquard, fortunately for me, keeps me supplied with copies of that.

Thank you for sending the certificate No,⁵³ Benjie. I did not intend you to make any other arrangements. I have applied to the University of London for registration and am awaiting their reply. The lectures I get from Wolsey Hall, Oxford, and have already received the first two. I am taking my time over this course and will write the Exam, Part I that is, in 1965 June. I felt that entering for the 1964 exams would entail high pressure swotting in a field that is absolutely new to me. In any event they demand that external students do the course in five years though, for one who has a degree, they are prepared to make concessions.

In one of her letters to me my wife told me I have a very good friend in you. I did not need her to tell me that. I knew it. But coming from her, it was quite a compliment. She has a very poor opinion of my sense of judgment, you see.

My thanks to Ernie [Wentzel] and Mrs Stott. I believe it was God’s will that I should come here to realise how much Iove there is in the world and to get my sense of values right. Above all else I have had a chance to know myself – neither saint nor devil: just a bundle of capabilities in the hands of God.

I wish you every success in your project. I know you will enjoy the work.

My love to Astrid and Lady Jennifer.

Yours sincerely

Robert

Benjamin Pogrund

to Eulalie Stott,

25 November 1963 (Ba1.6)

Dear Eulalie,

Mrs Sobukwe did not telephone me before her departure, as I had arranged with her to do, and I was unable to see her again. I hope that, despite this, she did telephone you when she reached Cape Town and that there have been no difficulties about her accommodation.

As advised, please let me know if I can be of assistance during her stay down there.

With best wishes,

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

6 December 1963 (Bd2.14)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you for your letter, the books and the regular flow of “The Listener”.

I enjoyed the “conducted tour” through Greece very much indeed. When I was doing matric history, we had a section known as Ancient History in our syllabus. It dealt with the glorious past of Greece, among other things. And the Parthenon and the Areopagus featured prominently, and we enjoyed their sound! I can therefore appreciate your feelings when you saw them in the flesh, so to speak, battered though they are. And your description of the scene of the blind boy is most touching. Unfortunately I am not modern enough yet to be able to pretend indifference to an act of kindness.

Thank you, also, for the book. I have finished reading The Leopard.⁵⁴ I made the mistake of reading the critics’ comments before reading the book with the result that when I had come to the last page I could not but feel, as some poet felt of the Skylark, I think, “Thou didst not sing to Shelley half so sweet a song, as Shelley sang of thee”⁵⁵ – with apologies to the literary figure I quote.

It is very kind of you to offer to send me “recreational” books. But it won’t be necessary just yet. I have over a dozen books here that I haven’t read yet and a friend in Johannesburg has written to say that more are on the way. Please believe me when I say that you couldn’t have helped me more than by sending me “The Listener”.

My wife was here last week with my little boys – the twins. She has gone back to fetch our two elder children who are at school in Basutoland. She’ll be arriving back here late next week and will have to return to Joh’burg by the 11th to resume her duties. We spent some pleasant hours together. The twins were seventeen months old when I went to jail. They are five years two months exactly today (6th). I am looking forward to seeing them all next week. Incidentally, I celebrated my 39th birthday yesterday (5th, fifth) – my fourth in jail.

I shall not make this letter a long one, lest you feel you have to do the same! Unfortunately, my wife has not told me where she is staying in Nyanga East⁵⁶ and I cannot, therefore, give you her address. She has left the twins with friends in Cape Town.

Wishing you and your family a God-blessed Christmas.

I am,

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

11 December 1963 (Ba1.7)

My dear Bob,

As always, your letter, which arrived last week, gave us great joy. In our concern for you we were glad to see that your letter reflected a spirit as cheerful and courageous as ever.

With your wife with you at the moment, I have no doubt that you are even happier. I am only sorry that it was not possible for her to spend more time with you. I had a note from Mrs. Stott yesterday saying that your wife and children were well settled in Cape Town and that they had not felt it necessary to take up the hotel accommodation which Mrs. Stott and I had arranged. I am looking forward to seeing your wife as soon as she returns, to have first-hand news of you and to learn whether there is anything we can do for you.

Your wife, by the way, worries us: despite my urgings, she so seldom asks for any assistance! My worry stems from my fear that she might be reluctant to ask. If you know of any such reluctance on her part, I do hope you will tell her not to hesitate to approach me at any time.

By now all the various papers should be reaching you and I trust they are a pleasurable means of whiling away the hours. Don’t worry about getting the “Mail”, “Times” and “Express” – they will be ordered for you all the same. Last week I sent you a copy of a booklet containing the series of articles on the Church which the Mail published.⁵⁷ After reading your kind words of praise about the series, I just had to send you the booklet! I cannot answer your question about the little boy – perhaps because I am too colour blind and only saw him as a little boy.

In regard to your University studies, why not send me a list of the books you need? I might be able to obtain at least some of them from friends and save you the expense of buying them. Also there is a government Library in Pretoria which lends books to students and sends the books through the post.⁵⁸ I think of this because some while ago I wrote a story about some prisoners who were studying in gaol, and the Library contacted me to advise me of the facilities they offered. If you are interested in finding out whether the Library has the books you require, let me know and I will get the address for you.

As I have previously told you, I shall be in Cape Town in January, working in local libraries etc., for my research project. I plan then to see you on a purely personal basis, as a friend. But, if possible, I would also like to be able to spend additional time with you discussing my research project which, as I think I have mentioned, is a study of Communist influence in Non-White politics. I have made tentative enquiries in Pretoria and believe that any formal application which I might make to the authorities for a formal interview with you for my research might be favourably considered. But before I make any such application, I obviously must first know if it meets with your approval. If you approve, I would be in Cape Town on January 15. Could you let me have your views on this as soon as possible so that, if necessary, I can arrange for travelling and accommodation?

Little else to tell you at the moment. I am fully immersed in my work and know little (and care less) of what goes on in the world around me. Zef [Mothopeng] has not been too well lately, but you will have seen reports about this in the newspapers.

Warmest good wishes to you from Astrid.

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

December 1963 (Bc10)

Hello Darling,

I didn’t think I should wait until I heard from you. I just had to “talk” to you!

I don’t need to tell you that I miss you and the kids terribly and that all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was following you in my mind from one station to another. I do hope you had a safe and comfortable journey. You should, though, because I entrusted you to the Everlasting. Amen!

Buti and Tshawe⁵⁹ have come to see me on Friday. They were both looking fine though they said Tshawe had been terribly sea-sick. You remembered that we discussed Buti’s car and you were wondering whether he had changed it or not? Well, he has. And he has got himself a 1963 car straight from the box! In the excitement I forgot to ask him what make it was. They arrived at noon, in fact, at 1 p.m. and they had not yet got halfway with the things they wanted to tell me when the time came for them to go.

How [illegible] faring? Don’t forget to send me those photographs now you have brought Dini and Mili back to their proper weights.

I have fought a roaring battle against the fruit you left and am just keeping a few oranges and one or two mangoes for Christmas Day.

Although Christmas Day will have passed when you receive this letter, believe that you are in my thoughts and I wish you the best Christmas you have ever had; rich and full with the love and peace of Christ, so that you will enter the New Year with your head high and your mouth filled with laughter and praise.

Cheerio Little Woman!

Love to the kids and Mama.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

¹“Buti” means brother, and it was Sobukwe’s affectionate name for his brother Ernest.

²“J.D.” refers to Jacob Dumdum Nyaose (1920–), who often went by his initials. In Gail Gerhart’s (1970) interview with Sobukwe (published in 2016), Sobukwe refers to Nyaose as “J.D.”. Nyaose was made a member of the PAC’s executive in 1959. Before this date he had argued for the formation of a PAC labour wing, and he came to assume this responsibility within the PAC when he became a member of the executive at the inaugural conference.

³Z.B. Molete (1930–), who was made the PAC’s Secretary for Publicity and Information at its inaugural conference in 1959. Molete was delegated by imprisoned PAC leaders in late 1960 to head the PAC’s underground organisation. Although he had been arrested in 1961 and sentences to a three-year jail term, he left the country – going to Basutoland – and subsequently worked with the PAC in Zambia and East Africa.

⁴Mercy was the wife of Sobukwe’s brother Charles.

⁵Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952).

⁶In Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “My Wife”’, he speaks about her as “Steel-true and blade-straight”.

⁷Dr Fabian Ribeiro (1933–86) was the husband of Veronica Sobukwe’s sister Florence. He ran a general medical practice in Mamelodi township, Pretoria. Both were later assassinated by the apartheid regime.

⁸Dennis Siwisa was a school and university friend of Sobukwe’s, considered by Sobukwe as like a brother. He served three years on Robben Island for membership of the PAC.

⁹Professor J.H. Wellington was a retired head of the Geography Department in the University of the Witwatersrand, who had become friendly with Sobukwe during the time both were employed by the university. His two-volume book, Southern Africa: A Geographical Study, was first published in 1955.

¹⁰Canon John Collins (1905–82) of St Paul’s Cathedral played a crucial role in the International Defence and Aid Fund, thereby ensuring that those families who had been most detrimentally affected because of the anti-apartheid political activities of one or more members would be financially cared for.

¹¹Wife of Robert’s brother Charles.

¹²Nellie Joan Marquard, born van der Merwe (1897–1981) was a liberal intellectual and a member of the Black Sash and of the Liberal Party, who taught English literature at the University of Stellenbosch for many years. In 1927 she married Leo Marquard. She was involved in many forms of public service. On her death her friend Moira Henderson wrote of her: “Her knowledge and wisdom ad her gift of interpreting the historical significance of current trends and policies were qualities which were of immense value to the [Black] Sash. But more than that, she was a shining example of gentleness and courage, of humility and forcefulness, of courtesy and conviction” (Sash, May 1981).

¹³Small towns in the northern Cape Province.

¹⁴Nell’s mother was Jane Georgiana Murray and her father Petrus van der Merwe.

¹⁵Perhaps Chronicle of the Murray Family by May Murray et al. (1913–20).

¹⁶Louis Armand (1905–71), a French engineer who devised a means of preventing the calcification of railway engine boilers in steam locomotives.

¹⁷Eugene Marais (1871–1936) was a South African lawyer, naturalist and writer. He qualified as an advocate in London, and was one of the leaders of the Second Afrikaans Language Movement, hence his preference for writing in Afrikaans. He is considered the father of ethology, the scientific study of animal behaviour. The book referred to here is probably Die Siel van die Mier (The Soul of the White Ant), the book for which Marais is best known.

¹⁸Dr Cyril Adler, who founded the Adler Museum of Medicine in 1962, now housed at the Wits University Medical School Campus.

¹⁹Presumably a record player.

²⁰At a boarding school.

²¹Father Reginald Webber was a Catholic chaplain at Pretoria Local Prison, who remained in contact with Sobukwe after he was moved from Pretoria by the prison authorities.

²²Charles Sobukwe was one of Sobukwe’s two older brothers.

²³Sobukwe’s mother.

²⁴Joseph Leabua Jonathan (1914–87) of Basutoland, great-grandson of King Moshoeshoe I, was a minor chief who converted to Catholicism in 1959 and founded the Canadian missionary-supported Basutoland National Party. His party won the pre-independence elections of 1965 and in 1966, as prime minister, he led Basutoland to independence as Lesotho. He faced opposition from the strongly Pan Africanist Basutoland Congress Party founded by Ntsu Mokhehle (1918–99).

²⁵The Mary Balmer Nurses Home at Victoria Hospital, Alice, where Veronica trained and worked. Alice was also home to Lovedale College and Fort Hare University.

²⁶Central News Agency.

²⁷Eulalie Stott (1923–2010) was a founding member of the South African Liberal Party in 1953, and also a founding member of the Black Sash in 1955. The Black Sash was a group of white women who opposed apartheid laws and sought to provide assistance to African women in particular. Stott was president of the Black Sash when the organisation associated with the Pan Africanist Congress in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was first elected as a councillor to the Cape Town City Council in 1961.

²⁸This letter is undated, and the recipient is not named, although it is presumably addressed to the magistrate mentioned in Eulalie Stott’s letter of 11 August 1963.

²⁹Wolsey Hall, Oxford is one of the longest-established distance education institutions in the world. Between the 1930s and 1980s Wolsey Hall offered degree courses through the University of London external degrees programme.

³⁰The custom of bridewealth.

³¹Neighbours and family friends of the Sobukwes.

³²Dennis Siwisa’s wife.

³³The University of the Witwatersrand.

³⁴I’m going.

³⁵Husband of Hilda, Veronica’s older sister.

³⁶Hospital in Soweto.

³⁷In Soweto.

³⁸A possible reference to the Dental School at the University of the Witwatersrand.

³⁹The name by which Florence Ribeiro was affectionately known.

⁴⁰Sobukwe was a prisoner at Stofberg, a farm prison, prior to being transferred to Robben Island. This period of Sobukwe’s imprisonment had the advantages of him sharing a communal cell, and being among many other PAC men, but it also meant that all prisoners had to endure hard physical labour.

⁴¹Lauretta Ngcobo, who later became well known as a novelist, was married to Abednego Ngcobo, a founding member of the PAC, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in 1961. Fearing arrest, Lauretta fled South Africa for Swaziland in 1963 and later moved to London.

⁴²George Bernard Shaw.

⁴³The Ugly American, a political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer depicting the failures of US diplomatic intervention in Southeast Asia, was published in 1958 and was made into a film in 1963 with Marlon Brando.

⁴⁴Given the volume of their subsequent correspondence, and the obvious closeness of their relationship, it is notable that there were not more letters exchanged between Sobukwe and Pogrund between 1960 and late 1963. This might be accounted for by the fact that Sobukwe was moved from one prison to another during the initial years of his sentence, and several letters may have been lost as a result. Pogrund (2015: 173–4) notes also, though, that there was a break in their contact after Sobukwe’s arrest. “I cannot explain it, but remain ashamed of my behavior. I was badly shaken by my near-death after the shooting at Sharpeville and, looking back, perhaps unconsciously I linked Sobukwe personally with the episode.”

⁴⁵Ellen Hellmann (1908–82) was an anthropologist who studied at the University of the Witwatersrand – she was the first woman to obtain a DPhil from the university – where she subsequently worked at the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work. She was a vocal critic of the apartheid government, and a founding member of the Progressive Party, serving on the party’s executive between 1959 and 1971. She served as the chairperson of the multiracial Joint Council of Europeans and Bantu, and was a prominent figure in the South African Institute of Race Relations, whose annual Race Relations Survey she edited for many years.

⁴⁶Ernie Wentzel (1933–86) was a founding member of the South African Liberal Party and an advocate who served as the chairman of the Johannesburg Bar Council. He was twice detained by the South African security police, in 1960 and 1964.

⁴⁷A weekly literary magazine, which ended in the 1950s but was revived for a short while in the early 1960s.

⁴⁸It is unclear which of Pogrund’s articles Sobukwe may have taken exception to. It is worthwhile flagging a prospective ideological tension that may have been at play here. White South African liberals were, as a rule, opposed to any form of racial discrimination and committed to the ideals of non-racialism. Sobukwe, on the other hand, while maintaining a vision of a future Africa beyond the divisions of race, nonetheless favoured an explicitly Africanist agenda. As leader of the PAC, he had prioritised the immediate needs of the oppressed African majority. Doing so necessitated asserting independent African political agency and leadership beyond the scope of white influence. Hence, the PAC’s policy of political non-collaboration with whites (an approach that would likewise be adopted by Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1970s). Given that this has long been a contentious – and misrepresented – issue, it helps to cite Sobukwe directly. In an article he wrote for the liberal newspaper Contact on 30 May 1959, Sobukwe says: “Our contention is that the Africans are the only people who, because of their material position, can be interested in the overhaul of the present structure of society. We have admitted that there are Europeans who are intellectually converts to Africa’s cause, but, because they benefit materially from the present set-up, they cannot completely identify themselves with that cause… Politically we stand for government of the Africans for the Africans with everyone who owes his only loyalty to Africa and accepts the democratic rule of an African majority, being regarded as African.” Contrary to those who accused Sobukwe and the PAC as racist for excluding whites, Sobukwe makes it clear that while his primary political loyalty is to Africa, all who share such a democratic political loyalty to Africa should be regarded as African and eligible to join the Pan Africanist struggle. Although Sobukwe’s stance was politically defensible, it did earn him the suspicion of many whites (including liberals) who alleged that he was guilty of reverse discrimination. For more on Pogrund’s discussions with Sobukwe on this – the dangers of a type of black racial exclusivity within the PAC, and the PAC being perceived as anti-white – see Pogrund’s Robert Sobukwe: How Can Man Die Better, (2015: chs. 8 (p. 104 particularly) and 13 (pp. 204–5). For a helpful discussion of the ideas of non-racialism in the South African historical context inclusive of the perspectives of Sobukwe and the PAC, see Soske (2015).

⁴⁹Pogrund conducted a series of interviews for reports in the Rand Daily Mail in which he questioned a number of South African church leaders on their views on apartheid (see Pogrund, 2015: 195).

⁵⁰Z.B. Molete.

⁵¹A joking reference to a gradualist model of political change, one to which Sobukwe’s own political activities within the PAC clearly did not adhere.

⁵²Sobukwe is referring to Pogrund’s interviews with South African church leaders mentioned in Pogrund’s letter of 7 November 1963.

⁵³Number.

⁵⁴Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard (1958).

⁵⁵This is a quote drawn from an article by Israel Zangwill entitled “Without Prejudice” which appeared in the Pall Mall magazine in January 1894. The reference is to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous poem “To a Skylark”.

⁵⁶A “location” in Cape Town.

⁵⁷The series of articles was entitled “The Church and the Race Problem” and was based on interviews with a number of churchmen, white and black.

⁵⁸The State Library, now part of the National Library of South Africa.

⁵⁹Sobukwe’s brother Ernest and his wife.