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1964

Sobukwe’s isolated living quarters during his time on Robben Island.

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

23 January 1964 (Bc11)

Hello Darling!

Thank you for your most interesting and delightful letter. It was a pleasure to read, reminiscent of the 1950s when you were still a little girl jumping around the Tennis Court!

Benjie had already assured me that you were well. I had been worried by your silence particularly as you had been unable to secure bookings for you and the children. I should have known better, of course, but I did expect you to send a telegram if only to assure me you had arrived safely.

Thanks for news about the kids. They really are a bouncing & energetic lot! Dini will have his hands full disciplining those two. Incidentally I sent him a birthday card and have asked Benjie to buy him a book as a birthday gift from me.

Fabian has written and has promised to send R50 to cover the cost of the book I require. Benjie has taken the lists away with him to try and raise the books from friends. I am extremely fortunate really & am constantly reminded of God’s challenge and promise. “Prove me now, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3: 10).¹

Thank you for your prayers, Kid. Keep on, do not despair. He is ever faithful to His word. We are in His hands and we are, therefore, safe. I was extremely pleased and happy to hear Mili and Dini pray so freely. After all prayers are conversation with a Father whose love for us is unmeasurable and who is so rich that there is nothing we can ask Him that He cannot give us provided it is for our good.

A lady in Cape Town sent me biscuits and sweets for Christmas and Buti and Fabian had also brought me some fruit, sweets and cakes. But I still had all the tinned stuff you had left and I almost overate during that week!

Benjie complains that you do not ask him for assistance as often as he would like. And Professor Wellington has repeated his plea that I should ask you to see him because both he and his wife are anxious to meet you and to help in whatever way they can. I [illegible] have warned both him and Benjie that knowing you as I do you will have to be in real difficulty before you will ask anybody for assistance and that includes your husband!

I am glad to learn Mili and Dini are back to normal. By the way, I read that there is difficulty now in getting children to schools in the Protectorates.² How have you fared? I know you must be frantic with anxiety. Don’t worry, darling, if you don’t get your way. God is the only one who can see into the future. And nothing will interfere with His plan. I mean this. I am not just trying to console you. Do your best and He will show you the way.

Buti has written. He says they reached home safely. He left Cape Town before Tshawe. I was wrong. They both came by train. They left the car behind. He says [Charles?] arrived home penniless and gave me his excuse that he is saving for Mercy!

I am praying you get that week end.³ To see you is to be back at Lovedale, “under the oaks”. Cheerio Darling. Love to the kids, Mama & Jabie.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

23 January 1964 (Bd1.2)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you very much for the Christmas card, your letter, and the books. I have enjoyed the Smith of Smiths⁴ immensely. I haven’t had such entertainment for years! Not even [Jonathan] Swift with all of his dissections could so effectively ridicule and demolish dearly-held “convictions”!

What struck me most forcibly, of course, is how unoriginal the “mass-mind” is. The same arguments are used, generation after generation, to justify prejudice. What does “change” are the locale and the objects of prejudice. It does prove, doesn’t it, that education as such is no cure for prejudice.

I must say that I was not a little surprised to learn that you were in your sixties. I met your husband⁵ in Pretoria, in 1959 when we both attended the “Bantu Authors’ Conference” and I put him down as an executive in his late forties. I haven’t met you, of course, but whenever I read your letters I have a picture of a tall lady with nothing to suggest that she was a day older than thirty-five.

I had quite a pleasant time with my wife and the children. I had quite a few tales to tell them – in spite of the African taboo against relating folk tales during the day. The guilty party, it is said, will sprout horns. It is but a sign of the times that my kids laughed such ideas to scorn. The twins (boys) were a year and a half old when I left home and have now attained the manly age of five. Fortunately for me they were satisfied, at first sight, that I was the fellow their mother told them so much about.

I had to give up gardening because of the dry season which has hit our water resources very hard. My plants which were coming up most splendidly put up a prolonged and heroic resistance except for the carrots and beetroot and beans which threw up the sponge quite early in the fight. And yet they had been the most ostentatious.

Thank you for the copies of “The Listener.” I am finding them very useful. My New Year resolution was to keep my letters short so that my friends would have a chance to read other matter. To prove that I am a man of integrity, I’ll say “Tot siens”.⁶ Greetings to your family.

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

P.S. I shall let my wife know. Thank you.

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

24 January 1964 (Ba2.7)

My dear Bob,

I was happy to have the chance of seeing you again, and to find you in such good health and spirits. I am deeply grateful to you for your assistance in my research.⁷ Quite apart from the detailed and authoritative background to events which you gave me, I found our general discussions stimulating and of tremendous value in gaining perspective. I can only repeat the assurance I gave you: the study will be as objective and balanced as any human-being can make it.

I saw your wife soon after my return and can report that she is keeping well. She also assured me that she was not in need of anything! She told me that the application for an exit permit has already been sent to the Minister of the Interior.⁸ She is posting your spectacles to you as requested.

Enclosed please find a clipping from the “Rand Daily Mail” of January 21. As you will see, the story was considered too long and was therefore reduced in length. Because of typographical errors – the bane of my existence – parts of it are nearly incomprehensible.

I am also returning to you the lists of books for your studies which you lent me. You need not worry about getting the books – I have been able to arrange for them and they should start reaching you shortly.

Recalling that, in May last year, the Minister of Justice announced that you would be able to receive visitors weekly, I wonder whether we could perhaps arrange for University of Cape Town lecturers in your various fields of study, to visit you regularly. A couple of hours discussion now and again with lecturers in economics, British Government, Public International Law, etc., would certainly, I think, be of immense value to you in doing your correspondence courses, which otherwise could be dry and barren. If you consider this idea worth pursuing, it might be best to approach the jail authorities first and ask whether they would be agreeable to allowing a selected panel of UCT⁹ lecturers to visit you.

Incidentally, due to unforeseen circumstances, I have had to change my plans for visiting Cape Town. Instead of coming on February 1, I shall be there on March 1. All being well, I hope to see you then. I suggest you keep the notes you are working on for me until then. The month’s delay will not affect me.

In the meantime, I have sent you, per passenger train, a batch of books for leisure time reading.

All for now, Bob. Look after yourself and let me know if there is anything you need.

Astrid sends her very best wishes.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Pogrund

to Veronica Sobukwe,

5 February 1964 (Ba2.8)

Dear Mrs. Sobukwe,

I wonder whether you have now been able to obtain Dini’s address? Even though his birthday is past, I am anxious to comply with Bob’s wishes in sending him a present.

If you have the address, I shall be grateful if you will let me have it as soon as possible.

With best wishes,

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

12 February 1964 (Bc12)

Hullo Little Woman!

What did you mean I am quiet down here? I have written you two letters since your visit. The first I wrote even before I knew whether you had reached home safely or not!

Thanks for the news, Kid. I was particularly relieved to learn that Mili and Dini had gone back to school. Thanks also for news about the autochthons.¹⁰ They are indeed a very lively lot. To which school have you sent them? If you’ve sent them to Mili’s Alma Mater then you’ll have to teach them English yourself. Otherwise they’ll be writing you the type of incomprehensible letter that Mili’s principal wrote to us – remember?

Yes, it was a pleasure to see and talk to Benjie, particularly as the subject on which he is working is one in which I am very interested. He hasn’t changed a bit – except that he has lost some weight I think.

I am glad about the news concerning Mrs Pullen. She hasn’t told me that she wrote to you. All she did was to ask me how old the children were, and to say how sorry she was at not being able to meet you. She thinks “Mrs Sobukwe must be a wonderful woman”. You know my reply to that. She is one of the two Cape Town ladies I told you about who have “adopted” me spiritually. She has sent me a number of very valuable books on religion – books that have helped me to understand Christ better. She sent me cookies, sweets & fruit for Christmas. I’ll write to her on your behalf.

Thank you also for the Twenty Rands. I didn’t need the money really badly. You must need it more than I do. I’ll use it to get some of the books or if friends can’t […] for me. Apart from those that Fabian undertook to get, Benjie has arranged with various friends that they provide me with as many of the books listed as they can.

What I said about registration, Darling, was that the fee was £10 (Ten pounds) and that I had to be registered before December (last year). I sent the money off immediately and received the Registration Certificate through the British Embassy. I have applied [illegible] to write the Part I Examinations next year. So you don’t need to worry about that any more.

Nenti has written, too, complaining that she last saw the children in 1961. She has no idea, of course, of the expenses involved and the distance to be covered to make an annual trip home.

You don’t know “Boy”, by the way Buti’s Mercy knows him. He is Sis [illegible]’s son and left home eleven years ago. Nenti writes to say he is visiting them – he has returned after these many years. She didn’t say whether he has a wife or not.

Your friends have not yet sent the buttons I asked for. Did you get a chance to have the kids photographed? May I expect my photo?

Incidentally, among my files there are some ordinary KHAKI FILES with no clips to them. I need about six of them for my lectures. Could you give them to Benjie to bring along with him?

The nights of late are extremely lovely, just as they are at Graaff-Reinet in summer – cool and clear. Here there is the added attraction of the seagulls screaming like children just out from school. And waves lapping the seashore. All poetic – like you.

Who sent your telegram to Fabian? Didn’t you do this yourself? He has written to me too. We have been exchanging views on poetry and music of late. But we are both of us stubborn. I think if we were to meet face to face we would argue until the following morning! I have asked him to collect folktales, proverbs, riddles and songs. If he had a tape recorder he could get the old men and old women to relate these and record them. I should like to get Northern Sotho ones particularly as well as Shangaan & Venda ones. You could also collect as many as you can from friends & others [illegible]. DO YOU HAVE THE TIME?

Give my love to the kids when you write to them. Did Dini receive his birthday card? I asked Benjie to send him a book and a birthday message on my behalf. God bless you, Child!

Love to Mama, Jabie & the kids.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

6 March 1964 (Bc13)

Hello Darling,

Again I write before I have received a reply from you because, as I said before, it is a pleasure to do so.

Thank you for the R20 (Twenty Rands) and the interesting news. Fabian, too, has written and enclosed a cheque for R50 (Fifty). I am submitting my order for the books I require. I have been unable to do much in Economic History so far because the textbook deals in broad generalisations while the course, judging from the notes and the tests, requires a great deal of detail.

Benjie wrote to say he would be coming down on the 1st March. I have not heard from him yet. I don’t know how he has succeeded in collecting the books he hoped to get for me.

I heard over the radio that there had been a train accident at New Canada. And I was relieved to learn there were no deaths. Human beings are selfish really because my first thoughts when I heard of the accident [illegible] yet the other men whose wives and children were on that train love their wives and children just as much as I love mine. We still have a very, very long way to go in our spiritual evolution to reach the stage Christ occupied over 2,000 years ago!

I miss you, of course, terribly, particularly on Sunday, when I know you are home – doing washing as usual!

[…]

I have written to Mrs Pullen to thank her on your behalf, but she will still expect and appreciate a direct letter from you. So when you do have a few minutes to spare do scribble a few lines to her, Child, please.

Have you heard from Den’s wife?¹¹ She did not reply to my letter and I am just wondering where she is and what she is doing. I advised her to continue with the shop.

I do not know whether driver’s licences are easy to come by in Cape Town or not, but the accident rate down here is phenomenal. I am sure I would spend sleepless nights if I knew you were coming down here by car. Almost every day someone dies in a road accident down here. At this rate they’ll be forced to increase public transport and ban private driving altogether, although of course the motor dealers will kick up a row if such a measure is as much as mentioned!

Do give my love to Mama and Jabie [illegible].

Thank you for your prayers, Kid. I, too, never forget to commend you and the children to His care and keeping. And up to now we can honestly say He has done for us more than we had ever hoped for. And He will continue to do so Darling. He NEVER breaks a promise. But we must keep our side of the bargain too – love and forgiveness. That is all He asks from us.

Give my love to Mili and Dini when you write to them. I am extremely proud of them all. And of you most of all. You’re a rare girl – one who has taught me more about the love of God than all the books that I have read on the subject. And you’ve done it, Little Woman, just by being your natural self, without any pious talks or looks. God bless you, Child.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

2 April 1964 (Bc14)

Hullo Darling!

Thank you for your letter. I had thought I had outgrown the “school boy” stage of excitement at receiving letters from you. But I haven’t. I still find it a great comfort to read your letters over and over again.

Yes, it was a lovely time we had in our little cottage. I keep thinking about it – how we started off with exactly one chair in the kitchen and no furniture whatsoever in the Dining Room. It’s been an uphill struggle, Little Woman. But, with the grace of God, we made it. Together, side by side, bit by bit, we converted those four walls into a home, fit for the children to grow up in.

[…]

Your telegram reached me a day before Benjie visited me. He promised to write to you immediately to tell you he had seen me and I was looking well. He appears to have put on weight since I saw him in January. He assured me that the books would be arriving any day and has undertaken to get the shoes, pyjamas and shirts I need. So don’t worry about those. Only I didn’t remember to tell him that the shoes should be broad-toed. Please advise him so if he comes to see you before buying them. I am also still well-off for cash. I won’t be needing any just yet.

It’s a pity you can’t see my quarters. I have just been provided with curtains for the “kitchen” and the “lounge” – lovely mustard and orange curtains. The “kitchen” walls are a light blue and the lounge has a “modern” two-tone!

Winter is setting in and the rains will soon be falling. I’ll be able, therefore, to take up gardening again. I feel so frustrated sometimes when I see lovely items in the Press advertisements that I would have liked to buy for you and the kids. But I’ll have to resist the temptation because anyway I no longer know what sizes you and the kids now wear.

I wrote to Mrs Pullen and thanked her as you had asked me to do. I am glad you enjoy their fortnightly tracts. Benjie was rather annoyed when a friend told him you were being flooded with these tracts. I also receive them. We’ll discuss them when next we meet.

Your remark about the kids playing in the mountains where their grandfather grew up was also made by Buti in a letter I received the same day as yours. Is it a case of two great minds thinking alike?

Yes Fabian told me they had named their son after me. I felt flattered and told him so. A pity about Jabi but I hope she’ll settle down soon. Thanks for news about Mercy. Charles is absolutely quiet.

How are Dedani and Dali getting on? I miss those guys. They are irrepressible. I am glad you’ve managed to shake the cold off. Yes I remember the joke you mention. What a queer language English is!

I had a quiet Easter, but felt strangely elated. Sang some hymns on Good Friday & Easter Sunday, full-blast and was just short of audience (congregation is the word) to preach to. It is quite alright singing to oneself, but when one preaches to oneself one’s sanity is immediately questioned. I am still sane enough to remember that!

[…] You remember Peter’s sister?¹² Well I learn from Nenti that she too is at Healdtown¹³ now. It is really surprising how these Graaff-Reinet people, poor as they are, still manage to give their children a tolerably good education.

How is Ma-Mpanza? Give my love to her please. I am sorry I did not know her when she was still younger. She must have been a very lovely girl. No wonder “indlondlo” fell for her so heavily!

Love to the kids and Jabi.

Cheerio darling.

Yours ever,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Astrid Pogrund,

7 April 1964 (Ba2.11)

My dear Astrid,

Benjie has been twice to see me and assures me that both you and Jennifer are well and that you are back at varsity. I was really glad to know that you were able again to pursue your studies.

Benjie has also told me of the disgusting letter you received.¹⁴ I am sorry that you have been caused so much pain and embarrassment. But I do hope that you will regard the letter as the malodorous product of a putrid mind and treat it with the contempt it deserves.

I was sorry I couldn’t see you in Pretoria but I was happy that you had finally met the Zodwa¹⁵ of your lectures!

Benjie told me he would be another week or so in Cape Town. Will you tell him from me that I am absolutely delighted with his choice of EVERY single item? In future I’ll send him my size only and he can experiment to his heart’s content with colour-combinations and fashions. Even the shoes which I first viewed with alarm (I am rather conservative, I admit!) are extremely comfortable and the pyjamas are a peach! The record player too, has arrived and I had a few turns on my creaky joints in the solitude of my room!

I do not know, though, what he would like me to do with the underwear. We had agreed on three sets. But when I opened the box I found they had sold him six briefs. There wasn’t a single vest. Unfortunately I do not have his Cape Town address. I would then have contacted him immediately.

I must say you’re looking well after Benjie. He’s looking fine. And he assures me that he is a model husband and father. And knowing him as I do, I take him at his word, of course.

Wishing you every success in your studies and a happy and blessed re-union with Benjie.

I remain,

Yours very sincerely,

BOB

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

13 April 1964 (Bc15)

Hullo Darling,

Thank you for both your letters although the last one was just a note really, and for the Ten Rands.

Before I proceed to our own “boloton” I should just like to let you know that Benjie has arranged that I get regular supplies of tobacco and fruit and has also purchased all the items of clothing I mentioned in my letter to you. It’s all very expensive stuff he has bought and all of it top quality. So then, darling, there’ll be no need for you to send any “allowance” in future. I’ll let you know, Child, if there is anything else I need. The corduroy trousers, of course, are for someone with a waist twice the size of mine. But I am hoping to have that fixed. The shoes are very modern ones – a type I never thought I would wear. But they are extremely comfortable. He appears determined to wean me from what he terms my “conservative tastes”!

I remember you telling me when you visited Witbank that Theba was working on his car, but you did not tell me it had broken down, Sweet. How the blazes did you get back to Joh’burg? I don’t think he’ll ever buy a sound car. He just loves working with spanners and things. A sound car would leave him with no work to do.

Both Mercy and her husband are silent. I don’t hear a word from them.

Thanks for news about the kids. How did Dini like the book he received for his Birthday? Incidentally, the record-player has arrived and more records will be coming soon. I have asked for the Messiah so that I may again conduct an invisible choir!

You can’t imagine how proud Buti is that Mili and Dini can speak Sotho so fluently. If he had his way, you would be Mrs Rabohoe now. I can’t agree to that, of course. I love the position as it is, where we are a mixture of all the major African tribes. We just need a Shangaan wife for Dini and perhaps a Venda one for Dedani and we will be all right.

In her letter to me, Nenti gave her address as 464. I do not know how to interpret this, whether as a mistake or whether as an indication that they have bought the house next door. If it is the latter, then they are definitely becoming bourgeoise.

Thanks for news about Den’s wife. As you say, it is understandable that her in-laws should not favour the arrangement. But I agree with you that she will manage the shop well. And he, too, will be happy to know that his business is carrying on.

It was kind of you to write to Mrs Pullen. I haven’t met her either. I don’t know whether she has told you – her husband died suddenly about nine months ago. She still hasn’t got over the shock apparently. But she is quite a brave lady.

Yes, Fabian told me they had named their son after me and that he was born on the 5th Dec. Father Webber, too, wrote to inform me that he was leaving for the U.S.A. on Good Friday.

Well, Little Woman, so long for now. God bless you and the children. Love to Mama and friends.

Your loving husband,

Mangi (I can HEAR you call me that!)

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

17 April 1964 (Bd1.3)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

I enjoyed your letter a great deal and can assure you that I didn’t blame you at all for the delayed reply. I blamed the prison authorities – as I usually do. It provides me with something to grouse about. In any case I don’t wish you to feel obliged to reply except at your convenience. Yes, my letters to and from my friends do take rather long.

Thank you for your comments on education, although I think you are being a little severe on the democratisation of education. In all ages, really, real thinkers or what sociologists call “opinion-holders” have been a miserable minority. What mass-education and the mass-media of communication have done has been to increase not only the numbers but also the absorptive ability of the opinion-followers. English visitors to America have often commented on the identity of views held by most Americans. But the phenomenon is universal really. It is not pleasant to hold an unpopular view as all communists in America, capitalists in Russia, Christians in Asia, and Protestants in Spain will bear out.

I, too, enjoyed Trevor Roper’s¹⁶ articles. In fact I have found “The Listener” extremely informative. Thank you indeed for the regular flow.

Oh yes there is a taboo on relating folk tales by day. Very little has been done to collect folk tales in this country. No, I have not read the book that you mention but I agree with you that folktales throughout the world are strikingly similar. In animal tales what generally differ are the “heroes” and the “dupes” with unpredictable Africa holding up the tortoise against all-comers! – transporting him to the USA in your Uncle Remus’s stories.¹⁷ There are certain experiences that appear to be common to peasants throughout the world and these experiences are reflected in their folklore. And, of course, stories “travel”.

Thank you for your offer of seeds. I shall certainly need them. Onion and cabbage I still have but would be glad to have the others you listed. I do not know what type of fertiliser one would require for this soil and will leave the decision to you.

I have had two visits from Mr Pogrund this year and they were refreshing indeed, although I found myself groping desperately for words! Of course, I could remedy that by talking to myself regularly every day. But I am afraid that would alarm the prison officials who would most certainly conclude that I had taken leave of my senses. But of course I could do it indoors!

Again, thank you for the “little kindnesses”.

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe.

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

8 May 1964 (Bc16)

Hullo Darling!

Bennie has by now been to see you, I think, and to assure you that I am well. He has probably informed you, too, about the numerous arrangements he has made for my care and comfort. I don’t know what he would not have bought if I had allowed him!

I woke up this morning with our wedding anniversary in mind. It’s quite a stretch, Little Girl. And you have become more marvellous, year by year. Of all God’s blessings on me – and they have been very many – I thank Him most for you. Unfortunately I cannot send you any gift because I would like to choose it myself and it would be known only to us two! But my love and gratitude you have in plenty.

I received a letter from Lauretta [Ngcobo] the other day. She tells me they have a baby daughter – the third in an unbroken succession!

Mrs Pullen has written to inform me that she has received a letter from you and is about to answer it. Father Webber, too, sent me a card from England. He was in top form as usual.

When Benjie was here, I advised him to look up some of the Psalms of David. I mentioned particularly, Psalm 26. I had made a mistake. The Psalms I recommended stretch from Psalm 121 to Psalm 126. But the particular psalms are 126 and 91. Please tell him so. And about the shoes, Baby, the ones he bought are just perfect! They are, of course, “modern” and not at all the type I would have bought. But having worn them, I find I like them very much and will probably stick to that type in future.

I am bearing in mind that yours and Mili’s birthdays are coming up soon. I hope to be able to get appropriate gifts for the occasions.

Well, Little Girl, this was merely to say “how do you do?” Just a phone call! I’ll write again, soon. Remember, I am proud of you!

Love to Mama and the kids. I am writing to Fabian, too.

Your loving husband,

Mangi.

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

15 May1964 (Bd1.4)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Your “note” arrived before I had answered your letter. Thank you for both of them. Particularly the letter. It was so AFRICAN! As Prof. Wilson¹⁸ will tell you, when you ask an African how he is, you’re in for it. You’ll get a report on the weather and the state of the crops, the state of health of his family relatives friends, recent deaths and births and finally the assurance – with which, incidentally, the report was prefaced – that by and large things are not bad. A carry-over, most probably from the days when communications were primitive. Common, perhaps, to all peasant populations so that, strictly speaking, I have no right to make the chauvinistic claim that it is TYPICALLY AFRICAN!

Please say “thank you” for me to the person who has given you the money to buy me books. What I should like to have are the dramatic works of the younger English playwrights, particularly (John?) Osborne and Brendan Behan. ANY work of theirs will do, though Borstal Boy by the latter, judging by reviews, is a masterpiece.¹⁹ The only stipulation I shall make then, with your gracious permission, is that the money be spent on the works of modern dramatists – excluding G.B.S.²⁰ (I have all his works). I still have plenty of reading material so that you can take your time over the bargaining.

No, I did not know Prof. [W.M.] Macmillan.²¹ He was at Wits before my time. I have read his books though, including “The Cape Coloured Question”.²² That was when I did “Native Administration” for my degree.²³ Nor is Governor Barkly²⁴ a complete stranger to me. I met him in that involved series of “Kaffir Wars”.²⁵

Yes, I read about Mary Harrison and her old friend at Paarl. It’s not only been a pleasant friendship, though: it’s been rewarding too. Thank you also for the spicy bit on Mrs Sigcau no. 5.²⁶ Talk of Hollywood!

I have been puzzling over the identity of Gladys Mgudlandlu.²⁷ I still am not sure whether it is the same woman as was at Healdtown at the time I was there 1940–46. She does appear to be making her mark in the art world which to me is an absolutely foreign one.

Thank you also for the garden stuff. I haven’t received it yet but it most probably is on its way.

The Catholic priest, Father Webber, who cared for me while I was in Pretoria jail is on a fund-raising mission in the U.S.A. He spent a few days in Britain and while there sent me a postcard with a picture of Piccadilly Circus. He then passed on to New York from where he sent me another postcard, with a picture of Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge. What a contrast the two pictures present! Mature age and aggressive youth: culture and wealth.

I know this is not in your line but it is just possible that you have read in the papers about the decision of the Ghana Boxing Board to declare their boy the world champion.²⁸ I had a good laugh over that one. That’s the Dark Continent for you – always something new! What an editorial I would have written on the subject! That’s where Britain stands streets above us. The British can laugh very heartily at themselves. We’re losing all sense of humour.

Thank you for the quotation from [W.B.] Yeats. We’ll get there, don’t you worry. “The cow and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall lie down together …”²⁹ in this world of ours! God bless you.

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

22 May 1964 (Bc17)

Hullo Darling!

You’ve been complaining rather consistently about my silence and yet I know that I write at least two letters to your one, Child. For instance, I wrote you one on the 8th of this month. I have not yet received a reply to it but because it is a pleasure to me merely to write to you, I am writing this one.

If I did not thank you for the Easter card and the R10 (Ten Rands) please accept my most humble apologies, darling. Not only was the Easter message your card contained a lovely one but the very idea of your sending me one warmed my heart immensely. You belong to a rare class of women. I want you to know that and remember it, so that should I one day so forget myself as to hurt you in any way – I am mortal, after all, and “to err is human” – you will remind me of this, my testament!

Thanks for news about the kids. I need not tell you I miss you all. […]

Mercy has written to tell me she failed. She is taking her failure very hard indeed and I really do sympathise with her. It can’t be pleasant to think that she has to go back to Bara³⁰ when she thought she had finished with the place for good.

I shall be writing to Benjie next week. In the meantime, please tell him I have received the books he sent. I shall read the two that concern his subject very carefully and will make necessary comments. Tell him also that Father Flexmoor of the Roman Catholic Church came to see me on Sunday, 17th May. He has promised to call again.

Winter has set in with a vengeance and I am consuming gallons of coffee. I shall have to take your advice and alternate with tea, otherwise I’ll end up with CCF³¹ (that’s the correct terminology, isn’t it?)

I am expecting some records of the “Messiah” and will be able to play and hear again “For Unto us a Child is Born”³² which always reminds me of Dini’s babyhood.

The fruit arrangements are working out fine and I am having plenty of fruit, so you need not worry over that score. I had intended, for your sake, to give up smoking. But I feel it will be too much of a strain just now. So I hope you won’t feel I have let you down. Don’t worry your head about cancer. I won’t contract it. I’ll die from old age, Little Girl, quietly, in a cool room with my children and great grandchildren around me. That’s a promise!

I’ll write again, very soon. Keep that head high, Sweet. “Underneath are the everlasting arms.”³³

Incidentally, I shall have to write to Mama and thank her for bringing you up. She did a splendid job!

Love to them all and particularly to Zodwa!

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

30 May 1964 (Ba2.21)

Dear Benjie,

Thank you for the books, the needle, and the sponge. I am happy also about the arrangements you have made for fruit. What hasn’t arrived yet is the tobacco assignment and I am just wondering whether you intend to make alternative arrangements about that also.

I have finished reading An African Student in China³⁴ and am now busy with Africa and the Communist World.³⁵ I am finding the latter most interesting. It is scholarly and well-documented and I am sure will provide you with a number of hints with regard to your own studies. Incidentally, I hope that the latter are going on well.

Father Flexmoor has been to see me since your last visit and has promised to come monthly. I asked my wife to refer you to Psalm 91 (ninety-one) specifically. That is the psalm I had in mind when I spoke to you.³⁶

There is nothing new to report. The sea is still full and the wind still blowing which is proof, I am told, that no hydrogen bomb has been dropped anywhere.

My wife wrote to say she had received your letter and that, like me, she lacked for nothing – materially.

I know you are worried about me, particularly in the light of the latest “leakages”.³⁷ But I think you should know me well enough by now to realize that when next you meet me you’ll have no difficulty in recognizing the Bob you know. That is diplomatic language, isn’t it? A lot of words uttered but nothing really concrete said.

I’ll write more next time. Am not feeling particularly bright today.

Greetings to Astrid and Jennifer.

Yours sincerely,

Bob

Benjamin Pogrund,

213 Diamond Exchange Building,

De Villiers Street, Johannesburg,

to Robert Sobukwe,

11 June 1964 (Ba2.24)

My dear Bob,

Please forgive my delay in writing to you. I had to leave for Rhodesia unexpectedly soon after my return from Cape Town. In addition, at that time, I was reluctant to write to you as I would have had to give you news which I know would upset you. Astrid and I have separated and divorce proceedings are being instituted. At this stage, there is no hope of a reconciliation. Last night, however, she agreed with me that the divorce should be postponed for three months for a “cooling off” period, during which time she would also undertake psycho-therapy. The insoluble tragedy is our little daughter, to whom we are both passionately devoted. I am sorry to have to break this news to you, Bob, as I know it will distress you.

Before I left for Rhodesia, I made arrangements for your wife to visit Cape Town again to see you. She told me that she hoped to go during June. I have not yet been able to contact her since my return, but hope that she is already with you or on her way to see you.

By now, you should have received all the study books which you require. Last month I sent you four parcels of study books (I think four was the number) and I trust that they reached you safely. Friends of mine have confirmed also the consignment of books to you from overseas. I am glad that you have found the Hoover Institution book of value.³⁸ I haven’t yet had a chance to read it myself, but plan to start on it during the next few days. Would you like me to send you other books of a similar nature? In addition to all these, there is a man up here who intends sending you a monthly supply of reading material and I have given him an outline of your tastes. This was easy in view of your catholic outlook!

Is the fruit of sufficient quality and quantity? Please reassure me on these points. In regard to the tobacco parcel, I have today written to the Defence and Aid Fund in Cape Town enquiring about it. As your letter was written on May 30th I think it likely that the parcel has now reached you.

I am still trying to discover what has happened to the subscription to the “Observer”. Acting on the advice of the Robben Island authorities, I wrote to the Chief Magistrate in Cape Town enquiring about the matter. This has led to a protracted and confused correspondence in which letters are flowing in to me from the Magistrate and from the Secretary for Justice. I am not too sure why the Secretary is involved in the matter, and I don’t think he is either. In any event, the gist of it all is that the Magistrate has not been receiving the newspaper and therefore has not been holding it back from you. I have arranged for the issue to be taken up with the CNA³⁹ and I hope that the paper will soon be arriving.

Is the clothing all right? Do you need more? You know that you must not hesitate to let me know your needs. The same, obviously applies to books and anything else that you may require.

I have had a hurried look through the notes you prepared for me and only wish I knew how to express my appreciation adequately. Thank you very, very much for your help, Bob. Your insight is penetrating, but above all you are fair and balanced throughout. As soon as I have the chance, I shall take up one or two points and ask you whether you would care to expand on them.

I had a good trip to Northern Rhodesia and gained quite a deal of valuable information. I saw a lot of Professor Z.K. Matthews⁴⁰who reminisced about your student days. He told me that he had predicted a brilliant future for you, but had warned you to be careful in using the power of your personality! He asked me to convey his warmest good wishes to you. The same regards come from Dr. Robert S. Bilheimer,⁴¹ of whom I have previously told you. He remains a good friend. Also regards from other whom I saw – Lawrence Masinini, Mayekiso and Mike Mafase and others who were with him.

I have asked Julius Malie in Basutoland to arrange for photographs of your children to be taken and he has promised me that it will be done. I am writing to him again to check on the matter.

In accordance with our discussion on the last day we spent together, I took up the matter in Pretoria.⁴² I did not do it in Cape Town simply because I was too scared! But I was well received and I was promised immediate action. I have not yet heard whether this was in fact carried out.

This is all for now. I hope that you have recovered from the depression which was so evident in your letter of the 30th.

My very warmest good wishes to you,

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

19 June 1964 (Bd1.5)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you very much for your letter, the books and the edibles. I noticed, incidentally, that the chocolates were labelled “dark” and wondered whether you had made the choice in reference to my colour prejudices! They were a real and rare treat for my palate but I would hesitate at this stage to say that their palatal success was primarily due to their colour.

Your letter was not “scatty” at all: only it was a voice and not a pen – the kind of letter one reads with an ever-widening smile.

I enjoyed the plays – particularly [Brendan] Behan’s. We belong to the same club, you know and share a common “historical experience”. Laye’s book was all you said it was – the work of an artist: an adult’s tale told by a child.⁴³

Thank you for the picture of Gladys Mgudlandlu. I am afraid, though, I still cannot say whether it is the same person. For one thing, she is carrying more than her fair share of weight and would probably look different from the sweet-sixteen I knew at Healdtown. This is no criticism. My wife is in the same position – a condition which would have reflected creditably on me if she had carried this poundage (“surplusage” is rather indelicate) while I was with her. But since the expansion has taken place in my absence it will most likely encourage the thought that the “poor child” is well-rid of this tyrant who starved her into unwifely proportions.

I am sorry I cannot provide you with the editorial on the Ghana Boxing Decision. Besides the fact that my letter would be too lengthy, such an editorial, I have decided after careful reflection, would be an act of disloyalty to the idea of an African Personality,⁴⁴ in vindication of which it was that Floyd Robertson⁴⁵ entered the ring. And what a fine job he did of it! – as all the disinterested spectators who jammed the stadium and the impartial referee of international standard who, unlike the criminal judges at the fight, is not a lackey of the imperialists, so aptly decided. To add insult to injury, just a week or two thereafter, the pattern was repeated in Senegal where the local Boxing Board had to reverse the decision of the judges who had deprived the local hero of victory in spite of the fact that all who had paid money to see the fight (and that made it possible for these same criminal elements to be paid) were solidly behind the local boy!

I haven’t had time yet to find out what “The Daily Graphic” ⁴⁶ – an oppositionist propaganda sheet which calls itself an independent newspaper, has had to say on the matter. I’ll pass its comments on to you. I won’t be surprised if it ridicules the Board’s decisions. It is an extremely unpatriotic paper whose task appears to be to belittle African achievement.

Thank you for your friend’s offer of warm clothing. It couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time! What I would be happy to have are blankets – two will do and, if it is not too much, a pullover. I am not sure that I appreciate the difference between a pullover and a slip over. However, what I would like in that line is a long-sleeved garment, whether V- or crew-necked. The size is 42.

Oh – the garden stuff arrived. I am sorry I did not inform you earlier. Thank you very much for it. I can’t report anything yet. I am still watching to see what the infant mortality rate will be.

Thanks for reading so far!

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

9 June 1964 (Bc42)

Hullo Darling,

You will by now have received the letter I wrote on the 22nd May, so that I am still ONE UP!

Thanks for the news. I am really glad you’ve been able to find time to go to the pictures, even if it were for only one day. I have heard that “The Ten Commandments” is an imposing picture.⁴⁷ But, of course, Hollywood can be relied on not to stick to the facts as they are, but to glamourise them. I won’t be surprised if in this picture of Creation or something that they are making, Eve wears a bikini! Trust Hollywood to introduce an anachronism.

I am very eager to [illegible] about Mili and Dini. My girl is growing fast. It’s time, I think, you got her a bicycle, even if it means digging into your savings! There’s no better exercise for a growing girl – in the cities, that is.

Fabian has sent me a copy of an article of his which was published in the S.A. Medical Journal!⁴⁸ It is quite an achievement, really, and I hope he maintains the intellectual interest in his profession which his article so clearly shows. I’ll be writing to him next week.

I am extremely excited at the prospect of seeing you again soon. In fact, I am almost ashamed of my uncontrollable excitement. It does not become a man who is approaching FORTY and is the father of FOUR children into the bargain! It is almost schoolboyish excitement I am experiencing – the same as I felt in 1949 at Lovedale! I have been bewitched!

With regard to the boat’s time-table I think the position remains unchanged viz that on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Saturday, the boat arrives in the morning and returns in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, it arrives in the morning and returns at noon.

On Tuesday and Friday it arrives at 12.45 p.m. and returns in the afternoon.

Now, darling, please remember the khaki files I asked for – five of them will do and my spectacles. If you can’t find the spectacles, Kid, don’t worry. I still can do without them.

I have been receiving postcards from Father Webber from all over America. He seems to be enjoying himself immensely.

Well, darling, love to the kids. I’ll have quite a number of stories to tell them when next we meet. Love to Mama, Jabie and the rest.

Keep your chin up! Till we meet,

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Benjamin Pogrund

to Veronica Sobukwe,

1 July 1964 (Ba2.33)

Dear Mrs. Sobukwe,

Thank you very much for your letter of June 24. I was delighted to learn that you will soon be going to Cape Town to see Bob.

I have not been able to come and see you as I have been heavily involved preparing for another trip to Rhodesia. I am leaving tomorrow and will be back towards the end of July. So I shall probably not be able to see you before you go to Cape Town.

In regard to your accommodation in Cape Town, I have today written to Mrs. Stott advising her of the position. I suggest however, that you write to her direct as soon as you receive a decision from the Minister of Justice about your request to stay on the Island. As soon as you hear from the Minister, will you please confirm with Mrs. Stott that you will require accommodation at the Tafelberg Hotel?⁴⁹ Will you also advise her whether it is only for yourself or for the children also?

As my marriage has broken up, I am no longer staying at my previous address. The best way to contact me is at my office – telephone: 23-5714.

In regard to the school fees, I am sorry there has been a delay in repaying the money to you. Could you please send the receipt so that the exact amount can be known to: Miss Pike, P.O. Box 97, Johannesburg. I have spoken to Miss Pike, and she will send you the money as soon as she gets the receipt.

I look forward to seeing you again when you return from Cape Town. Please give Bob my very warmest good wishes.

Yours sincerely,

P.S. Mrs. Stott’s address is:

c/o Cape Town City Council,

City Hall,

Darling Street,

Cape Town.

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

22 July 1964 (Bd1.6)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

I read of your unpleasant experience, and I sympathize with you most sincerely. But then, as you know, the twentieth century has discovered a new deity – the State. And of course Africa, as you and I know, though lovable, has a madness all its own!

Thank you indeed for the blankets. They could not have arrived at a more opportune moment. And thank you for the jersey also. Were it not that I had feared the telegram would be too costly, I would have added “Cold where is thy sting, winter where thy bitterness?”⁵⁰

My wife will be in Cape Town this Saturday and will be staying there for about a fortnight. I don’t know yet where she’ll be staying, but I shall ask her to contact you. She is, unfortunately, quite a stubborn little girl, quite unlike her very humble, docile husband! Incidentally, I read that she has applied for my release. Well, she told me nothing about it. The report was, however incorrect in one respect. – I have not made any personal (or non-personal even) request to the Cabinet for my release.⁵¹ The only letters I have written are friendly ones, like this, to my friends.

Thank you, too, for the books. [John] Galsworthy and [George Bernard] Shaw have always been favourites of mine. And it was a real pleasure to make [John] Osborne’s acquaintance as well as [Doris] Lessing’s.

Please give my thanks to our mutual friend for the Yorkshire Products. The jersey was an aesthete’s choice.

Have you read of the underground ocean of fresh water discovered in the Sahara? “And the desert shall blossom”!⁵²

I haven’t heard from Graaff-Reinet yet – my home town, unfortunately! The place has always bred rebels it appears. I’m expecting my brother to tell me of the stock losses they have suffered. He thinks Graaff-Reinet is the capital of the Republic.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

6 August 1964 (Ba2.35)

My dear Benjie,

I am sorry I delayed my reply so much. But as you no doubt realize your news stunned me and I was hoping that my wife would be able to enlighten me so that I should know what unsolicited advice to give. Unfortunately she is as ignorant as I am of the circumstances surrounding the case. I can, therefore, only stupidly but sincerely advise, Benjie, that you do not allow your pride to make a reconciliation impossible. Please remember the long rough road you two have travelled together and then forget and forgive whatever wrongs you think you have suffered. So much for that.

My wife is around, Benjie and thank you for making it possible for her to come.

The tobacco supplies are coming in regularly with books and records. Also, I have received all the books pertaining to my studies, except books on Social Philosophy. Not one on this list has arrived. If it is because they are unobtainable, then don’t worry, Benjie. The prescribed textbooks will do.

Thanks for news about Prof Matthews. He’s right, he did give me some such advice.

Yes, I enjoyed the Hoover Institution books and will be happy indeed to get more.

I was surprised to learn you found my letter reflecting a mood of depression. I probably wrote it on a day I wasn’t feeling too bright. But you can rest assured depression is not my regular mood.

I haven’t received “The Observer” yet. But since so much trouble appears to be involved I don’t think you should bother about it further.

Incidentally, I have just read Gordon Winter’s report on the interview he had with me in Pretoria Prison in October 1962.⁵³ It was my first contact with it and I found it an outstanding piece of imaginative writing.

I am glad you found my [The remainder of letter is missing.]

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

1 September 1964 (Ba2.36)

My dear Bob,

I was so glad to hear from you again, and to know that you are keeping well and in good spirits.

Your concern about the divorce is much appreciated. I regretted having to break the news to you. But unfortunately it is a fact which cannot be avoided. One can only try and resolve not to make the same mistakes in the future.

The non-arrival of the London “Observer” is baffling. I have reported it to the donor who asks me to convey his apologies to you again. The subscription was definitely taken out months ago, and we are determined to ensure that the paper reaches you. The matter is again being taken up.

The non-arrival of the Social Philosophy books has also surprised me. My difficulty is that I no longer have the lists of subjects and books which you gave me, as I handed them out. But speaking from memory, wasn’t your brother-in-law supposed to be getting these books? I seem to recall your telling me this. If I am wrong, can you please send me a list of the needed books and I will attend to it immediately.

Have all the other books arrived safely? And how are you doing with your studies? Are you able to concentrate on the books?

Also, how are you placed for reading material? You know that if you want more reading books, you have only to advise me and I will send down a carton-full.

I was glad to note that the cigarettes, records etc., are arriving regularly. Are the supplies of fruit also being maintained, and is the quality satisfactory? A few weeks ago I arranged for the fruit to be continued for another three month period and I trust that there have been no difficulties about this.

Can you also let me know how the record player is operating, what records you have and whether you want any others?

This is quite a list of questions I have put to you! I have omitted anything concerning your needs, please do not hesitate, as always, to let me know without delay.

My work has slumped badly recently. It has been a trying time.⁵⁴ An atmosphere of crisis, in which one is so deeply involved through close friends, is hardly conducive to sober, academic work! But I am now forcing myself back to my papers, and am having reasonable success in this.

Someone has sent me an article on you which appeared some while ago in the “Zambia News”. I am enclosing it for your interest. Your comments, by the way, on the “Sunday Express” and “Sunday Times” reports have aroused great mirth among my friends.

I don’t think I have told you about the results of the representations I said I would make. Coming at this stage, it will not surprise you to learn that they were turned down.

Since dictating all the above, I have seen your wife and was happy to find her well. She assures me that she is not in need of anything. While I was glad to have first hand news of you, I was distressed to learn that, apparently, you have not been receiving the supplies of fruit. I shall be writing direct to the Robben Island Officer Commanding about this. As you know, your wife will be able to take her annual leave at the end of December so that you will be able to look forward to seeing her again then.

There is little else to write about. What with personal difficulties and the general atmosphere at the moment, life is pretty strained.

Look after yourself. I pray for your continued welfare and for your courage and spirit to continue unabated.

Sincerely

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

17 September 1964 (Bc18)

Hullo Darling!

In my last letter I threatened to start divorce proceedings if by this date I had had no word from you yet. Well, I have NOT heard from you yet and it is exactly a month today since you left. But I’ll withdraw my threat! My love for you grows with each day that passes. At this rate, by the time I am eighty I shall be kneeling to kiss your feet every time you enter the room! I am scared at the thought because I really would not like to be such a slave, not even of an extraordinary woman like Zodwa!

Well, Kid, how is the night-duty going? How many babies have you delivered already? You must be having your hands full, I believe, for sociologists report that the poor are prolific breeders.

I received a letter from Benjie two days ago – on the 14th to be exact and he tells me he saw you and you assured him that you were not in need of anything. Apparently, the question of his divorce is settled and there’s nothing else we can do to help. It’s a pity, though. It is always sad to see a marriage break up and all the high hopes with which the young couple started off dashed.

Have you done anything about the radiogram yet? It will be difficult, of course, now that you are on night duty unless your day off falls on a convenient week-day.

We have had bitterly cold weather – in fact we are still experiencing it and according to the radio the whole country is shivering.

How are the autochthons? I miss them a lot and still can’t understand how Dali has changed in so short a time into a self-sufficient, confident little fellow.

This won’t be a long letter darling. I feel much better after having written these few lines. Love to Mama and the kids. And God bless you Little Girl.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

17 September 1964 (Bd1.7)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you very much indeed for your letter – cheerful and quietly courageous as usual. And thank you also for the books which you choose with the uncanny skill of a mind-reader. I have always wanted to read [Henrik] Ibsen but just never got round to doing so. Now my education is complete!

I don’t think you need fear that you are overloading me with plays. I have an insatiable appetite for them. And I find the modern dramatists an interesting lot. Incidentally, I really enjoyed [Eugene] O’Neill’s “Ah! Wilderness.” It could have been any home, anywhere. Truly, “There is only one man in all the world. And his name is All Men.”⁵⁵

My wife was very happy to have met you and thoroughly enjoyed the brief moments she spent in your company. Thank you very much for making her feel at home. I have not yet received a letter from her though she sent a telegram to inform me she had arrived safely. If all goes well, she should be down here again just before New Year’s day. But she’ll be accompanied by the children this time and will probably put up in the location. There is no room for children to play in a hotel: so she says at any rate.

Yes I was born and bred at Graaff-Reinet. And what memories I have of the place: still covered with thick bush and with the loveliest prickly pears imaginable. I saw the bush disappear and houses rise and streams run dry.

I know Reinet House very well⁵⁶ and “Werda” which we used to pass on our way to and from the rugby field near the Show Grounds. We used to fight daily running battles with the students who stayed there.

The “Murray” I know personally is “Bobbie” Murray of Broederstroom, who, in the 1930s was a young man who dominated the local Stock Market. Our auctioneers then were the Pohl Brothers. My father was employed by Jack Tilbrook & Co., the leading wool merchants in the town. And as he had passed Standard four, he was a registered voter!⁵⁷

There was also the shop of Kingwill and Murray, later known as “Kingray”. But I never knew either Mr Kingwill or Mr Murray of Kingray.

I spoke Afrikaans fluently as a child though never so well as either my mother or my eldest brother both of whom, up to this day, can deliver an impromptu sermon in that language. My father, on the contrary, never learnt to speak Afrikaans but was recognized locally as an authority on Xhosa which he loved and spoke with a rare beauty.

Graaff-Reinet Xhosa, of course, is a species on its own, spoken in an area covering Nouwpoort & Hanover in the north and Aberdeen, Jansenville, Pearston etc in the S.W. It bristles with “maars” and “dans” and “togs”, “assebliefs”⁵⁸ even having “ronanti” (goeie naand) and “rondara” (goeie dag)⁵⁹ as forms of greeting in place of the traditional “bhota” or the modern “molo” (môre). You’ll excuse my spelling. I never studied Afrikaans.

I have read Mr V.G. Davies’ complaints about the “incorrect” forms of Xhosa used in the Magistrates’ Courts.⁶⁰ He makes the mistake many Europeans who know a Bantu language make. They not only think that the language they know is THE Bantu language but they are genuinely grieved to note that it can stoop to borrowing as all other languages do! The modern approach to language study, however, is not prescriptive but de-scriptive. And the forms he complains of are widely used. Those he prefers are just NOT used by children. Unfortunately the Magistrate’s clerk or interpreter who corrected him chose to demonstrate his knowledge of comparative philology and succeeded very brilliantly in demonstrating his ignorance. Why won’t the shoemaker stick to his last?⁶¹

So should I. God bless you.

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

24 September 1964 (Bc19)

Hullo Darling!

This is the fifth if not the sixth letter I am writing to you. Since you left, I have written you a letter EVERY week! I have not yet received the letter you said was “following” in your telegram.

I received an air mail letter from Benjie on the 14th (fourteenth) September. It had been posted on the 2nd (second). Another air mail letter from Lauretta [Ngcobo] in Swaziland reached me on the 21st (twenty-first) September. It had been posted on the 8th (eighth). An ordinary letter from Nenti posted on the 8th (eighth) reached me on the twenty-first. So even assuming you did not write immediately on your arrival, but waited until the end of the month, I should have received your letter by now unless:–

1.you have, for some reason or another, postponed writing the letter or

2.you wrote it and, like the children’s letters, your letter has disappeared in one of the numerous offices [illegible]. It was to ascertain this that I sent you a telegram on Monday (21st). Unfortunately, I did not make it “Reply Paid” as I am certain you can afford the cost of a telegram.

I am writing this letter on Wednesday afternoon (4.15 p.m.) and I have not yet received a reply to the telegram I sent. I am really at a loss what to think, baby.

I had hoped to be able to write you a letter every week until, at least, the end of October. But there are a number of letters awaiting replies and I shall have to skip next week at any rate. However, I shall write again in the first week of October.

Nenti has asked me to thank you for the beautiful jersey you sent her. She says she would have written directly to you to thank you but she lacks your address. They tell me Fezile is back from the Circumcision School and is now in employment. It is a pity he could not proceed with his studies. Charles didn’t go home for the June holidays.

Lauretta wants to know if you received the letter she wrote you some time back. They appear to use the initial “Z” for their daughters. The eldest daughter, I know, is Zabantu. I don’t know the name of the second. But the latest addition to the family is “Zikhethiwe”, reminding me of what an old preacher at Standerton said, when he heard I was about to get married. He told me my wife would have to be “a chosen among the chosen” (mokhethoa hara bakhethoa). I assured him that she was and I can assure him more than ever today – in spite of your quiet stubbornness!

I know, Child, how this separation affects you. There will be days when you feel absolutely hopeless and depressed. But please remember, darling, that the will of God ALWAYS prevails and try to live one day at a time. You cannot know what will happen tomorrow so you can’t change it. Why worry about it then? I think you’ll agree that God been very kind to us. Count his blessings and concentrate on THEM and thank him.

Mrs Marquard sent me a box of sweets early this month. I told you in my last letter that she was very sorry you did not have a chance for a tete-à-tete.

Fabian has been quiet, too, for some time now. They must be getting ready to welcome Father Webber, I think. He should be on his way back this month.

Well, Kid, so long for the time being. My love to Mama and the kids. And remember, Little Girl, I love you very much.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

Veronica Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

24 September 1964 (Ba2.37)

Dear Mr. Pogrund,

I am extremely sorry to learn that you did not get my letter.

As I had explained in my last letter, I could not come to town.

I had to change my day off and take a weekend. Any-way, those people who promised me a lift did not turn up.

Please extend my apologies to her. I have received letters and a telegram from Bob. He says he gained three pounds during my visit. I phoned you on the 19th at 7.55 am but there was no reply.

Good-bye,

I am,

Yours sincerely,

Veronica Sobukwe

Telegram

from Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

5 October 1964 (Ba2.38)

Twins birthday tomorrow Tuesday have sent congratulations by telegram Can you procure cards please Bob

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

12 October 1964 (Ba2.52)

My dear Bob,

Your letter arrived last week. I was, as always, happy to hear from you and to be reassured that you are keeping as well as possible in your somewhat extraordinary circumstances.

By now you will have received my telegram advising you that your wife and children are keeping well, and that there is no need for concern on your part on any account at all. Your wife has written two letters and intended writing to you again immediately I contacted her. As you no doubt know, she will be taking her annual leave in December so you have something good to look forward to again. She will not be short of anything for her trip, I promise you.

I am constantly amazed – although I shouldn’t be – to find the number of friends you have here and in other parts of the world. There is a Mrs. Thomas C. Taylor (of 50, Plymouth Avenue North, Rochester, New York 14614), for example. I realise the pressures on your allocation of letters, Bob, but I wonder whether you could at some stage manage a few words to her? She is not after thanks for anything, but feels that some direct contact with you would enable her to put a little more reality and content into her prayers. She is, as you will gather, a very devout Christian, a Presbyterian, I believe.

I am enclosing an article from Saturday’s “Mail” which might be of interest to you.⁶² I will also send the original booklet to you. It is a completely factual account of the churches in South Africa, and the reader is left to draw his own conclusions. The conclusions which I have drawn in the enclosed article are probably controversial. Do you think I have painted too grim a picture?

I am going into the question of the missing books for your studies and will have them sent to you as soon as possible.

In regard to Mrs Mittag,⁶³ I am writing to her to tell her about your letter to her. I shall, however, request her to continue sending you records. This is the arrangement I made when I was in Cape Town, and I can promise you that everyone concerned is only too delighted to assist you in this small way.

There is still complete confusion about the London “Observer” subscription, by the way. No-one can offer any kind of an explanation about it.

Can you send me the renewal notice for the “Reader’s Digest” so that I can attend to it without delay? Frankly, after our other torturous dealings with the C.N.A. I would rather present them with a renewal notice than attempt to take out a new subscription!

Your telegram about the twins’ birthday was received and was promptly acted upon. I sent out two birthday cards, inscribed “All my love, from your Tata”, and I tried to make my handwriting as neat and small as possible to make it look at least something like yours. I also sent them some small presents. I hope my telegram acknowledging yours reached you safely. I must say that the Robben Island authorities are extremely helpful in enabling you to send and receive telegrams. I can’t imagine that there is another prisoner in the country who has this facility.

How are you placed for clothing? Particularly with the coming of the summer, is there anything you need? Is there perhaps any chance of your being able to use that little beach near your bungalow for an occasional swim? If so, let me know and I shall send you a swimming costume.

What you wrote about my work is very true. I know that the desire within me to be academically honest and fair and to overcome my deep-rooted prejudices against the Communists can tend to push me into being over-fair towards them with equally disastrous results. On the other hand, I am applying uncompromising standards to the use or non-use of material, and unfortunately or otherwise, I am finding that a lot of the well-known allegations simply do not stand up to close scrutiny. Or is it that I am unable to track down the direct evidence? To cheer you up, though, let me add that I am digging up other previously unknown facts!

The work is going reasonably well, but I have had to resign myself to accepting that this cannot be the definitive study I had originally envisaged. We are still too close to events and it will be many years before we are able to get hold of all the necessary information. Anyway, I hope that my study, broad as parts of it will necessarily have to be, will still be solid enough to be of some significance.

I am leaving at the end of this week for a trip to Natal and Basutoland in search of additional material. I will be away for about two weeks.

One final point: I was surprised to hear that you apparently have not been receiving the weekly parcels of fruit which I arranged, and for which I paid the jail authorities.

The authorities have not advised me of any change in the situation so I have naturally assumed that the arrangement was still being adhered to. Can you please let me know what is happening?

I have just had some photographs of Jenny taken, and I am enclosing a couple to show you why I am such a proud father.

My very warm greetings to you. I continue to pray for you.

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

20 October 1964 (Bc20)

Hullo Darling!

As I pointed out in the telegram I sent you, I haven’t received your letter of the 10th September so I don’t know why it took you so long in the first place to let me know about your journey.

Your letter of the 24th reached me on the 9th October. On the same day I received one from Fabian. He too had been quiet for some time.

I still can’t understand, though, how after receiving my telegram seeking to know why you were quiet, you could calmly put it aside and write a letter thanking me for the telegram! Surely the telegram indicated that I was worried and anxious.

I have written to Benjie and have asked him to take up this matter of my mail with attorneys and I have told him that if he requires information about the contents of the Minister’s⁶⁴ notices to me you’ll be able to help him.

I received the watch. Thanks. And I hope you have received the “Book of the Human Body”.

Mrs Marquard is keeping me supplied with plays by modern dramatists. She has also sent me a sizeable amount of sweets and nuts. She calls it “a hoard to draw from”.

Mrs Pullen has written, too. She says she was sorry to read that refugees in Basutoland were all singing my praises as their leader.⁶⁵ She hopes I’ll denounce them all and tell them I am now “a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ”. I suppose I’ll have to take up ministry after that and be a good little Christian kaffir.⁶⁶ I don’t think I’ll answer the letter. I’ll hurt her if I do.

Well, October is almost over. September was the longest month I have ever known. I didn’t think it would ever end.

Well, the boys are six now! I hope they understood my messages. I decided to use idiomatic Xhosa to demonstrate to you that if I speak simple Xhosa it is not because I do not know the language well, but purely out of consideration for Joh’burg people! You wouldn’t understand me if I were to employ Course Three Xhosa!

Incidentally, I do not know what message Fabian derived from the quotation from Job I sent him. I meant it as a straightforward quotation. However, if he detected a message in it which he found useful who am I to disillusion him? I haven’t replied to his letter yet. I’ll do so next week I hope.

Well, Cheerio Kid. Love to all.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

P.S. I read about the invitation to the Zambia Independence Celebrations.⁶⁷ Congrats! M

Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

20 October 1964 (Ba2.41)

My dear Benjie,

Thank you indeed for both your telegrams. I needed the assurance about my family and, as a father, I was happy to know you had succeeded in getting birthday cards for my autochthons.

I subsequently received a letter from my wife, dated the 24th September, followed by a telegram. But the letter of the 10th September to which she refers, I have not received.

And I want to take up this matter of my mail with you today with whatever matters may be relevant.

You will no doubt recall that I have been complaining ceaselessly about the (to me) inexplicable delay in my mail, almost from the very moment I got here. I thought I would stick it [out] for a while, believing the arrangements to be temporary in any event. But it has proved not to be. And now that letters from, first my children and then my wife, have for a reason unknown to me been apparently held up the possibilities are, to say the least, disturbing.

Now Benjie, it is my contention – and I have given the matter my most serious thought – that neither the Minister of Justice nor the Prison Authorities have the right, under any published law or regulations, deliberately to delay my mail as to render nugatory my right (granted under their own regulation!) to write and receive two letters a week.

The reason for their actions is not my concern. The Administrative arrangements they make to achieve their purpose are not my concern either. But I do want to be convinced by a Court of law that the rights I have referred to can be reconciled with such restriction. And it is not unavoidable, this delay, Benjie. I have been a convict, as you know. And I never had reason to complain about mail delays.

I, therefore, want you to please to take up the matter with Ernie [Wentzel] and get his opinion. My intention is to appeal to court for a “definition of rights.” I don’t know how one presents that in court. But the idea is to remove the caprice and whim that appear to define my relations here.

Any information you may require about the contents of the Minister of Justice’s notices to me, my wife will, I am sure, be able to supply. And should you require an affidavit from me, on whatever aspects of my stay here you consider relevant, I shall of course, be only too happy to oblige.

I read that Ernie intended to leave the country but I believe it should be possible to get the services of somebody else equally good.

We have to establish the purpose of censorship and in the case of so-called subversive material, who is to decide whether words are subversive or not – a Court of Law or a civil servant? Has that civil servant a right to withhold my letter because he thinks it contains subversive material? These are but some of the questions one would like settled by a court.

I shall not comment on the events in Europe.⁶⁸ I want this letter to deal specifically and exclusively with a “definition of rights!”

Well, cheerio Benjie,

Yours sincerely,

BOB

P.S. Now that the Socialists are in Britain I am almost sorry I cancelled subscriptions for “Time and Tide.”⁶⁹ It would be a pleasure to read their sputtering fulminations against Callaghan!⁷⁰

P.P.S. I received the watch – thanks. BOB.

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

28 October 1964 (Bd1.8)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

In my last letter I numbered you among mind-readers. In the light of later developments I am afraid I’ll have to remove you from that company. Mind-reading and telepathy are out of it. You receive messages. That’s the only explanation I find satisfactory. What I still have to decide is whether these messages come to you as “guidance” from God or whether they come through plain African witchcraft.

All the foregoing is to clear the ground for a sincere “thank you” for the hoard from which I still continue to draw and to tell you that I received the parcel the very week I had decided to give up smoking!! See the reference to witchcraft? I haven’t told my wife the good news yet. I want to keep it as a pleasant surprise to spring on her when she comes down in December. She has, unfortunately, never believed that a pipe gave me a dignified and intellectual look. She has missed the poetry of it altogether and has stubbornly persisted in viewing the ancient briar from the Hippocratic angle.

Thank you for the latest batch of plays. I was quite thrilled the other day to see a picture of Arnold Wesker⁷¹ in the “Cape Times”, I think it was.

I know I haven’t read enough of modern drama to be able to make a reasonable generalization. But would you agree that with many of these young writers it is as it was with “Westerns” – the characters were different but the ingredients of the plot came from the same pantry! Wesker’s three plays⁷² were clean and yet written in the tradition of “socialist realism”. What does beat me is why realistic plays or novels must of necessity depict the seamy side of life. After all our pruderies and attempts at decency, even our notions of decency, are as realistic as the things we are ashamed of. I have read that Osborne’s latest play⁷³ has been severely criticized for the occurrence of four letter words which do nothing to advance the play.

To turn to more mundane things. May [I] again, please, presume upon your kindness and ask you to send me some D.D.T.⁷⁴ I have planted some cucumber and squash seeds and the packet containing the latter exhorts the gardener to “control fly infestation and sucking bugs”. It doesn’t say how this is to be done. But I believe that D.D.T. is as all-purpose as penicillin is in another field.

With best wishes,

I remain,

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Benjamin Pogrund

to Robert Sobukwe,

6 November 1964 (Ba2.42)

My dear Bob,

Thank you for your letter of October 20 which reached me on November 3. I was distressed to read about the delays you are experiencing in receiving your letters and I quite understand your concern. I was, frankly, surprised about the delays: as we know, the Robben Island authorities have always done their best to ensure your comfort within the limits of your detention. Holding back letters from your wife seems pointless. At the same time, I recall that you have repeatedly told me about delays in letters reaching you. I assume that you have taken up the matter with the prison authorities, and that you have decided on court action after failing to achieve any satisfactory solution.

In accordance with your instructions, I have written to lawyers in Cape Town and have asked them to act on your behalf. It will be necessary for them to have your Power of Attorney and possibly also to see you. Could you therefore please write direct to Mr. Barney Zackon, Zackon and Birkan, Namaqua House, Burg Street, Cape Town.⁷⁵ He is a good friend of mine.

I have discussed the matter also with Ernie and he is drawing up an Opinion immediately. This will be sent to Barney Zackon.

My trip to Natal and Basutoland was a fiasco. A couple of days after reaching Durban I became ill, and had to leave my car there and fly back to Johannesburg. It was found that I had glandular fever and I have just got up after spending the last few weeks in bed. I am feeling much better but am still rather weak. I plan to leave again next week and will be away for up to three weeks. Any letters which come from you in that time will be forwarded to me by my office.

As you no doubt know, your wife was refused a passport to attend the Zambia independence celebration. I am sorry I could not give her any assistance in this. She telephoned me shortly after I returned to Johannesburg, but I was so ill that I was barely able to talk to her coherently.

In your letter you omitted two matters about which I had written to you: the non-delivery of the weekly fruit parcels to you, and the “Reader’s Digest” renewal (I asked you to send me the subscription form). The subscription to the London “Observer” has been taken out anew and copies should start reaching you shortly.

There is little else to tell you. My work has taken a heavy knock because of this illness and I am trying to get on with it again.

I hope this letter finds you in better heart.

My warmest good wishes to you.

Sincerely,

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

13 November 1964 (Bc21)

Hullo Darling,

Thank you for your letter dated 27th October. You thank me in your letter for my “last telegram and letter”. You’ll have to be more specific, child. I have written you over six letters, anyone of which could have been my “last letter”.

Before I regale you with “boloton” let me settle a few business points. First of all, any day now, I shall be receiving Examination Entry forms from the British Embassy. I’ll have to fill them and return them with £9 (nine pounds) – which is the examination fee. Will you please send me that amount urgently? Also could you get me Parker Refills – one red and two blue. They are about 4/6 each. So much for business!

I am sorry about the Zambia affair.⁷⁶ I would have been a C.C.F. victim⁷⁷ if you had been granted permission to go. I thought both you and Benjie were being extremely optimistic even to make the attempt. But I agree with you one can only know the reaction when one has MADE the attempt. Then there are no “ifs” or “perhapses”, there is a definite, tangible result.

Oh yes, I answered Mili’s letter immediately. In fact I am certain that in the letter I wrote to you I mentioned that I was writing to Mili at the same time!

Well I hope you are able to make suitable arrangements for Dini. Don’t leave it until the last minute. I am glad to hear the autochthons are doing well at school. It should be interesting to see how they take to regular disciplined school life.

We’ve been having married men’s weather for the last three days or so – cloudy with intermittent showers and drizzle. I know I used to be impatient to get home on days like that knowing that we had a fine excuse for remaining in-doors.

There is quite a lot of talk about the population explosion. Drastic measures have been adopted in Asia and Latin America to keep the population down. In Japan over a million cases of legalized abortion have been recorded for a single year. The oral contraceptive pill is now the rage.

The fears are that if the present rate of population growth is maintained, pretty soon there will not be enough room for people to live and not enough food to feed them.

The latter fear is a little groundless. There will be enough food in the world for a long time to feed everybody well. Unfortunately, millions are overeating and have to go to hospital to reduce and take slimming pills and diets while others are perpetually under-weight, because they do not have enough to eat. Similarly with population figures: some countries are bursting at the seams while others are virtually “open spaces”.

The world has to do some re-thinking. Working in co-operation, the nations of the world can tame the Equatorial forests and make them habitable and they could absorb and support thousands of millions. So too can the deserts be reclaimed and made productive and habitable. Our own Sahara can absorb hundreds of millions. Our continent can support ten times as many people as there are at the moment. The development of the continent is a glorious challenge, requiring bold vision and imagination. As you say, with such a task before us, hatred is a waste of time and energy.

Well it’s good to learn that they have at last completed the clinic at Tladi.⁷⁸ When I went to gaol five years ago the impression prevailed that at any time the Tladi clinic would begin operations. I don’t think you stand to benefit by applying for a post at Tladi. It’s farther away from Mofolo and from town and will mean increased transport costs. It will be altogether inconvenient, I feel.

Well, cheerio Kid. Love to all.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

P.S. I love you VERY MUCH. Remember that always. RMS

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

25 November 1964 (Bd1.9)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

Thank you for the sprayer and the powder which I received last week. I felt quite the progressive farmer as I moved round the garden spraying plants without fear or favour.

Thank you also for your most interesting letter. It was a bit cruel on Nixon, but I found the incident very amusing. After all, Nixon is an outstanding U.S. politician. And for him to be so effectively silenced by a “Negro boy” – from Alabama, at that!

Your references to the snobbery that attached to Nederlands⁷⁹ in the olden days reminded me of our Coloured preachers at Graaff-Reinet. The African and Coloured people constitute one congregation, in all denominations, so that services are conducted in both Xhosa and Afrikaans. In those days, the thirties, the Methodist Church seemed to believe that a preacher was a more reliable agent of God if he was uneducated. The emphasis was on the “indwelling Spirit”. The result was that most of our preachers, African and Coloured, were barely literate. However, it was an unquestioned convention in those days that a preacher just could not see a word if he did not have his glasses on. And as most of them were labourers who had to change into their Sunday bests, it wasn’t unusual for them to find they had left their glasses behind.

But, and this is what all this nonsense is leading up to, they had to create the impression that they could read. It was very important in those days to be thought able to read. Those of our Coloured preachers who could read, enjoyed their “zechenen tot hem”.⁸⁰ One old man, who couldn’t read, would invariably ask his congregation to sing “gesang 256 in die maXhosa taal” – for a very long time it was Kaffirstaal while the name used for the Coloured people by the Xhosa was as barbaric as the clicks it contained – “en 46 in Hollands:⁸¹ Dag des wonderen, dag des oordeel en al wat daar op volg.”⁸² And they would bring the roof down. For God was understood to be very indulgent. Some sinners had been known to go to heaven because they had used their musical talents for the glory of God. And musical talent meant lung-power, that’s all.

Oh, but they were an imaginative lot! Here’s one preaching on the “Fall of Man”, painting a picture of God calling “Adam! Adam!” and Adam replying from the black recesses of some thick bush, “here am I”. God then asks him if he has eaten of the fruit and he replies “It is this woman You gave me.” God ignores the implied accusation, passes on to Eve and she blames the snake. God looked it up and down as it stood there in arrogant defiance. “It’s these blinking legs that give you ideas” said God, and with that “whish”, he cut off the legs and flat on its belly fell the snake. This, mind you, is given in onomatopoeic language, with appropriate gestures – faithfully reproduced by the interpreter – and when the snake falls “bhaxa”, explosive consonants and clicks and gestures convey most vividly the precipitate prostration of the original snake.

I am sorry for this digression. Now for business. You ask what plays I should like to have. I have enjoyed Arnold Wesker’s, [Doris] Lessing’s and [John] Osborne’s plays. Eugene O’Neill is, of course, outstanding. You sent me three plays of his: “Ah, Wilderness!”, “The Hairy Ape” and “All God’s Chillun Got Wings”. As I said in my last letter, these people tend to be a movement, a school, rather than individual playwrights, so that the work of one is the work of all. I shall have to except O’Neill’s and Brendan Behan whose works really stood apart from the rest. In short, then, Mrs Marquard, except for O’Neill and Behan I have no strong preferences. I am quite willing to have you guide my reading!

I am sorry, really, if I have not thanked you for “The New Yorker” in the past. It contains some interesting articles for light reading and relaxation. I enjoyed it.

My wife will be leaving Johburg on the 29th December and on the 5th (fifth) December, I’ll be celebrating my fortieth birthday – entering into manhood!

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

Robert Sobukwe

to Nell Marquard,

30 November 1964 (Bd1.10)

Dear Mrs Marquard,

When I wrote my reply, I did not have your letter with me. I had misplaced it somewhere. But, yesterday, when I took up a book on Economics I came across your letter resting snugly between the pages. I read it over again and as a result, I am sending this postscript to you.

I wish you to know that I appreciate very much indeed and am grateful for the solicitude that prompted you to write despite your rheumatic hand. I felt very rotten when I realized how imperceptibly I was becoming selfish and callous. I wish you a speedy recovery and a pain-free and happy Christmas season.

Forgive me if I indulge in my usual reminiscences. But I can’t help remarking that while the English pedantically wish one another a “Merry” Christmas and a happy New Year, we Graaff-Reineters – the location population – wish one another a “happy” Christmas and a “happy” New Year and we say it loudly, person to person. We aren’t mercenary in outlook – far from it – but we do, all things considered, expect those on whom we confer the blessings of the gods to show their appreciation – a piece of cake, a cent piece or a bottle of beer, shall we say?

However, it often happens that our friends have nothing but good wishes to give us in return. The formula is “same to you”, said indifferently or warmly, depending on our feelings toward our well-wishers. There are characters at Graaff-Reinet, however, who are known to hate having their good-wishes reciprocated, preferring a solid, tangible token of good-will. They are quick to follow their “happy Christmas” with “en moet my nie ‘seventy-you’ gee nie!”⁸³ – in the idiom of our location.

I was interested also in your account of the lecture on Galileo. I don’t know what to think of the man. I happened to read, by accident really, Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers, in which he traces the history of astronomy. For some reason or another he feels called upon to cut Galileo down to size and to accord pre-eminence to his countryman, George Keppler.⁸⁴ Well, if there’s one thing Koestler can do it is debunking theories and denigrating characters. He makes Galileo appear an arrogant, petulant, perfidious liar towards whom the Church showed unusual tolerance. He has marshalled his facts skilfully, but, as I say, he is arguing a case and has been too harsh on Galileo. But it is amazing how steadfastly scientists refused to make the assumptions that their observations should have led them to make, how they skirted the truth for centuries, making momentous discoveries and yet not realizing that they had. It’s a fascinating story of how in his laborious serpentine climb man often goes off at a tangent, confidently: ends up in a cul-de-sac and has to retrace his steps!

Yes, a lot is happening on the world scene. I am happy about the outcome of the American elections because, whatever shady deals mar his past, [President Lyndon] Johnson, I believe, wants to and can fire the imagination of American youth. And I have a soft spot for Americans. Perhaps because they are so desperately anxious to be loved or because they are so vulnerable. There is one respect in which they resemble the Communists whom they loathe so much. In the days of Lenin, the Communists seemed to enjoy announcing their failures from the rooftops and going back to the job with the renewed vigour of those who have just returned from the confessional. The Americans, too, are extremely self-critical – a sign of strength.

I do not know the history of the crisis in South Vietnam, unfortunately. But I do believe that the Americans are allowing themselves to be blackmailed unnecessarily. There is not a single country in Africa, Asia or Latin America that would voluntarily go Communist. Of that I am certain. They’ll all declare themselves socialists, yes, but it will be their brand of socialism. If America were to take up the attitude and let it be known, that she will assist to the best of her ability where her assistance is required, but that she will withdraw willingly where is not wanted, there would be no demonstrations, anywhere, against American embassies. Of course it is an unavoidable risk in democracies that some obscure paper will publish some uncomplimentary matter on some Asian or African country – something that State-controlled Communist papers can NEVER do – and that paper’s sentiments are taken as representative of the country as a whole.

In Europe, the situation is most intriguing. Professor Beloff⁸⁵ was of opinion that the Socialist parties of Europe would regard a Labour victory in Britain as a sign of a change in the international climate. Herr Willy Brandt, Signor Nenni and M. Gaston Defferre of Germany, Italy and France, respectively,⁸⁶ are going to be watched very closely in the coming months because socialist victories in these countries will give a fillip to the explosive though latent idea of a Socialist United States of Europe. What a mighty power that would be! And who knows, if liberalization were to continue behind the Iron Curtain, whether the Soviet Union and its satellites were not to be drawn into such a Union.

Strange as it may seem, I have no fear of a world conflagration. I have a strong consciousness of God’s active intervention in the affairs of the world. We are moving towards God’s solution.

I wish you and your family a God-blessed and memorable Christmas and New Year.

Yours very sincerely,

RM Sobukwe

In my previous letter, I spoke of bringing the roof down. As no applause was provided for it would have been more correct, perhaps, to have the roof blown off or the walls collapsing as they did in Jericho! RMS

Robert Sobukwe

to Benjamin Pogrund,

7 December 1964 (Ba2.48)

Hello Benjie!

You will probably have learnt by now that I have not yet written to Mr. Zackon. It isn’t because I have misplaced your letter which, in the light of recent experiences, is likely to be your first thought. The reason, really, is that as my wife will soon be coming down and there is a strong probability that Dr. Ribeiro⁸⁷ will be joining her, I thought I would discuss the matter with them and see if the prayer or plea, whatever the thing is called, cannot be broadened. I felt that if they were to see Mr. Zackon themselves, then a lot of the preliminary ground can be prepared at no unnecessary cost.

I am glad you have got over your illness. By a strange coincidence Mr. and Mrs. Mittag were down with jaundice at about the same time. Fortunately, they too have recovered and have already been on picnic out in the Kalahari from whence they sent me some succulents and a lovely plant-pot, the work of the potter in Jeremiah!⁸⁸ When I wrote to them, the plants and the pot had not arrived yet and I am afraid I may not be able to write to them again this year. Will you please, if you do write to them sooner than that, advise them that I have received the stuff and will write to thank them as soon as the queue clears.

A Mrs. Schonfield in Britain has sent me T.H. Green’s Political Obligations.⁸⁹ And that is all in the line of Social Philosophy that has arrived. But don’t worry, Benjie. The three books I have are enough for a pass: only the subject intrigues me and I feel I want to know as much about it as it is possible to know.

With regard to novels do you think that in the New Year it would be possible for you to get me books by the following authors:

1.C.P. Snow – I haven’t read any of his works.

2.J.B. Priestley – have read “Let the People Sing” and “Midnight on the Desert”.

3.[Antoine de] St-Exupery – Have read his Flight to Arras.

4.Goethe – Haven’t read anything by him.

5.Balzac – Suspect his works will be banned, tho.

Am quite happy with [Harold] Wilson at the head of affairs in Britain and Johnson as boss in America. They’ll complement each other with Wilson providing the ideas, the well-thought-out ideas of a critical, limpid intelligence and Johnson the persuasive skill that is his trade mark. Both have been shaped by [John F.] Kennedy in some way. Wilson hopes to provide the youthful inspiration and vision that Kennedy evoked. And he can: in Britain; where he will not be expected to be a romantic and athletic idol of teenagers. It is the intellectuals of Britain now who will have their chance as the American ones had under Kennedy.

Johnson, of course, has inherited Kennedy’s mantle and programme. But he wants to be remembered as a great president in his own right. America has the resources to banish poverty completely from the States. And Johnson is going to strain every nerve to do it. He is also going to do everything in his power to implement the Civil Rights Act. In his domestic policy, he is going to be successful, I think. The weak spot in his foreign policy is the hostility towards Communist China which he has inherited. America has no intellectual case against Communist China. She is merely prejudiced. Nobody blames her for being prejudiced against China. She may even hate her if she feels like it. But it is a reflection on U.N.O. if China can be kept out simply because America does not like her policy. It tends to suggest that U.N.O. is America’s club to which only those can belong who have America’s blessing. And yet she could have China admitted to U.N.O. without in the least compromising her position.⁹⁰

I have just laid hands on the “Reader’s Digest” renewal form and am enclosing it in case you still need it, though I have received the December issue, which seems to suggest that the subscription has been renewed.

Without intending any insult may I wish you a peaceful Christmas season and a happy opportunity-filled New Year!

My love and very best wishes to Jennifer.

Yours sincerely,

Bob

Robert Sobukwe

to Veronica Sobukwe,

7 December 1964 (Bc22)

Hullo Darling,

Thank you indeed for the Birthday and Christmas cards. They were the sweetest and loveliest I have ever received. They made my day for me!

Thank you also for the Twenty Rands and the Parker refills. I am sorry to have been such a nuisance – at this time of all times. Unfortunately, I had not yet been informed that Fabian’s money had arrived and I feared that when the Examination Entry Forms arrived I wouldn’t have the money to pay. They haven’t arrived yet: but the British Embassy promised to send them in good time. You know, I hope, that the examination is held in June, not in December. I still have a few months for concentrated revision. Lectures end in March!

I am rather glad you are coming by train and not by car. I fear the roads these days. Fabian has expressed a desire to come, but has not fixed a definite date. He did say though, that if he does not succeed in making the journey, Vemba⁹¹ certainly will.

I’d be happy if you could bring a little Mist. Pot. Cit.⁹² with you, not more than two bottles for a start and some of those pads for corns and callouses. I am trying to cut down on cakes and sweets but I certainly must have some scones baked by Mili and a cake or two baked by her mother!

Incidentally, thank them on my behalf for their touching Christmas card. I wish you all the loveliest and most satisfying Christmas imaginable.

I received a letter from Buti this morning, informing me, inter alia, that Zozo celebrated her twentieth birthday on the 12th November. How these children grow! Dorris then must be 22 or more. The tragedy is that they are merely sitting in mental idleness at home.

I received a telegram from Fabian this morning, wishing me a happy birthday.⁹³ He must have remembered rather late on Saturday that the great day had come!

I am looking forward very keenly to your visit. Mam Tshawe is going to Queenstown for the N.C.A.W.⁹⁴ meeting this year, so they won’t be coming down to Cape Town. Buti says they’ll come down in two years’ time when one of his boys is ordained as a priest.

Give my love and best wishes to Mama and the kids – as well as to the Varas and Matebulas.

Cheerio, little girl. God bless you richly.

Your loving husband,

Mangi

P.S. I have not yet renewed my subscription for the Cape Times and the Cape Argus. I don’t know when the subscriptions expire. They haven’t sent me any renewal forms. But the Cape Times did discontinue its deliveries from the 21st to the 27th November. If you haven’t done so yet, don’t pay any subscription until you’ve met me. I’ve already paid for the Sunday Times and the Sunday Express. Mangi

¹The full verse from Malachi 3 reads as follows: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

²Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland.

³A possible reference to when Veronica might again be able to visit him at Robben Island.

⁴Gerald Bullett, Sydney Smith: A Biography and a Selection (1951). Sydney Smith was an Anglican clergyman and noted wit. Sobukwe refers to this book in his letter to Mrs Marquard of 16 October 1968.

⁵Leo Marquard (1897–1974) was a prominent figure in South African liberalism. He founded the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) in 1924, and was likewise instrumental in establishing the South African Institute of Race Relations (1929) and was a leading figure in the founding of the South African Liberal Party in 1953. He was the author of The Black Man’s Burden (1943), a commentary on South African politics published under the pseudonym John Burger, and People and Policies of South Africa (1950). He worked as head of the Oxford University Press in Cape Town during the 1950s and early 1960s.

⁶Goodbye.

⁷Pogrund is referring to his study on the Communist influence on black politics in South Africa (previously mentioned in his letter to Sobukwe of 11 December 1963), for which he secured a grant from Stanford University and a year’s leave from the Rand Daily Mail. The influence of communists and white liberals in watering down the Africanist agendas of the African National Congress had been one of the crucial reasons that Sobukwe had broken with the ANC. Sobukwe was, as such, not only an expert but a historical participant within the broader topic of Pogrund’s research. It is curious, given the monitoring of Sobukwe’s letters, that this overtly political topic was not censored and that Pogrund had been granted permission to meet with Sobukwe to discuss this topic. Sobukwe and Pogrund were of course aware that this was an unusual concession. The government had perhaps hoped – so Pogrund (2015) speculates – that he would be able to bear witness to the fact that Sobukwe was being neither starved nor beaten, as was alleged by PAC leaders. Furthermore, given the inevitable monitoring and surveillance that took place in these meetings, they provided the government with a way of finding out what was on Sobukwe’s mind. Sobukwe “understood the game as well as I did”, reports Pogrund. “We worked on the premise that the room was bugged … We spoke of personal matters and of our families and friends. We scribbled a few notes to each other when we had especially private details to convey” (2015: 199).

⁸Sobukwe had been offered employment in the United States by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. An “exit permit” meant he would be entitled to leave South Africa but never to return.

⁹University of Cape Town.

¹⁰That is, the children.

¹¹Dennis Siwisa’s wife.

¹²This may have been a reference to Sobukwe’s fellow PAC leader Peter Raboroko.

¹³The famous Methodist school at Fort Beaufort, which Nelson Mandela had attended.

¹⁴Pogrund (2015: 207) viewed this smear letter as the result of his reporting on the rise of black political power in Swaziland. His reporting “was not appreciated by … the white settlers there and I guessed the poison was from one or more of them”. Pogrund notes also that he was touched that Sobukwe devoted one of his rationed letters to write a consoling note to Astrid.

¹⁵Veronica Zodwa Sobukwe.

¹⁶Hugh Trevor-Roper (1914–2003) was a renowned British historian and Oxford University professor. The Listener published his lectures on “The Rise of Christian Europe”, later collected as a book, in November and December 1963. Trevor-Roper did not have a high opinion of African history, saying in 1963 that “Perhaps in the future there will be some African history to teach. But at present there is none, or very little: there is only the history of Europe in Africa. The rest is largely darkness.” This is worth noting, because although Sobukwe evidently had much in common with Nell Marquard’s reading interests, there would also have been ideological trends within some of this material that Sobukwe would have been opposed to.

¹⁷Uncle Remus is the narrator and eponymous character of Joel Chandler Harris’s series of books (c.1881) based on African American folktales of the late 19th century and told in the genre of animal stories and songs. Harris was originally praised for telling the stories through the character – and in the Southern African American dialectic of – the fictitious kindly freeman Uncle Remus. By today’s standards these stories – featuring the well-known characters Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox – are racist both in terms of the “old Uncle” stereotype and their patronising attitude to African Americans.

¹⁸Professor Monica Wilson (1908–82), who was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town from 1952 to 1973. Previously she had taught at the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University. Her famous monograph on the Mpondo was based on fieldwork for her Cambridge PhD and entitled Reaction to Conquest.

¹⁹Published in 1958, Borstal Boy is an autobiographical coming-of-age account of Behan’s three years of detention within a juvenile borstal during which time, despite his Irish republican allegiances, he comes to befriend a series of English inmates.

²⁰George Bernard Shaw.

²¹W.M. Macmillan (1885–1974) was, in 1917, made the first professor of history at the Johannesburg School of Mines (later to become the University of the Witwatersrand). He is regarded as the founder of the liberal school of South African historiography.

²²The title of Macmillan’s book, first published in 1927, was The Cape Colour Question and was based on the papers of Dr John Philip.

²³Much is being left unsaid by Sobukwe here. It was while studying Native Administration at Fort Hare that the full extent of the injustices of apartheid became evident to him; this was a turning point in the development of his political consciousness and his commitment to the struggle against white supremacy.

²⁴Sir Henry Barkly (1815–98) served as the Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner for Southern Africa between 1870 and 1877, and was notable (given the current context) not only for being a supporter of the Cape’s non-racial constitution of the time – which he felt would not survive any negotiations with the Boer Republics for a confederation of South African states – but also because he played an important role in assisting the growth of the Cape liberal tradition.

²⁵Also known (in colonial historiography) as the frontier wars and (by critics of colonialism) the wars of dispossession. “Kaffir” was already in the 1960s a pejorative racial term.

²⁶Probably one of the wives of Botha Sigcau, a chief of Eastern Pondoland who was an early supporter of the National Party’s Bantu Authorities policy. Later he became the first president of the so-called independent Transkei.

²⁷Gladys Mgudlandlu was a South African artist and educator (1917–79) who qualified as a teacher in 1941 at Lovedale College. She held a solo exhibition in Johannesburg in 1964.

²⁸Sugar Ramos of Cuba, the defending world featherweight champion, was initially awarded a split decision over Floyd Robertson on 10 May 1964 in the first world championship bout to be contended in Accra. The Ghanaian Boxing Authority subsequently over-ruled this decision, declaring Robertson the winner.

²⁹A quote from Isaiah 11: 17: “The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.”

³⁰Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, where she was presumably studying as a nurse.

³¹Congestive Cardiac Failure.

³²The well-known chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

³³Deuteronomy 33: 27 reads: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’”

³⁴An African Student in China, by Emmanuel John Hevi, was published in 1963.

³⁵Africa in the Communist World, a collection edited by Zbigniew K. Brzezinski (later, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor), first appeared in 1963.

³⁶Psalm 91 (Qui habitat) is commonly invoked in times of hardship.

³⁷Sobukwe is referring to the constant surveillance of his communications and, presumably, those of his comrades and allies.

³⁸The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, California, is a conservative public policy think tank that also engages in publishing. The Hoover Institution would later produce a number of titles on South African politics, including a transcript of the Rivonia Trial. Pogrund is probably referring to Africa in the Communist World, edited by Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, which the Hoover Institution published in 1963.

³⁹Central News Agency.

⁴⁰Zachariah Keodirelang Matthews (1901–68) was one of South Africa’s most distinguished intellectuals. He was admitted as an attorney to the Johannesburg Bar before leaving the country to study at Yale and the London School of Economics. He was affiliated with Fort Hare for many years, as lecturer and head of the African Studies Department. In his thirties he became increasingly involved in political activities, particularly within the ANC. He lent support to the 1949 Programme of Action, served as ANC provincial president of the Cape, and proposed the idea of the Congress of the People in 1953. Matthews was one of the accused in the infamous Treason Trial, which aimed to persecute all those involved with the Freedom Charter and its aims of ending racial discrimination. He was held in detention for six months in 1960, after he played a key role in the calling for consultations among African leaders. In 1966 he was offered the post of Botswana’s ambassador to the US, which he accepted.

⁴¹Dr Robert S. Bilheimer (1917–2006) was an American Presbyterian theologian. He was one of the co-founders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and it was in the capacity as WCC delegate that he met with representatives of the Christian denominations in South Africa to address the issue of apartheid in 1960.

⁴²Reflecting back on this comment, Pogrund (2015: 210) remarks: “I was still plugging away trying to bring about his release. At this distance of time I cannot remember exactly what I tried to do. Whatever it was, it was done in consultation with Sobukwe and must have been unorthodox and risky.” A further point of contextualisation should be added. Pogrund (2015: 210) notes that as of May 1964 “the government’s wooing of Sobukwe was at an end. Once the realization came that he was not going to change his ways and was not willing to be co-opted, the pleasantness and co-operation were replaced by increasing obstructionism.”

⁴³Camara Laye’s novel The African Child, based largely on his own childhood in Guinea, was published in 1953, and is one of the earliest major works in francophone African literature.

⁴⁴The notion of an ‘African personality’ was invoked by African leaders and intellectuals such as Kwame Nkrumah and Kenneth Kaunda to refer to the cultural uniqueness among Africans as reflected in their attitudes, behaviour, beliefs, customs and societal norms. It referred also to the distinctiveness of explanatory frameworks – religious, cosmological – and the particular social and political systems that have developed historically across the African continent.

⁴⁵Floyd “Klutei” Robertson was a Ghanaian professional boxer. He fought Sugar Ramos on 9 May 1964. Although Robertson was initially awarded the fight, the decision was later reversed.

⁴⁶State-owned newspaper published in Ghana and established in 1950 by the London Daily Mirror Group.

⁴⁷The 1956 religious epic produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.

⁴⁸Fabian Ribeiro, “The incidence and treatment of iron-deficiency anaemia in an African general practice”, South African Medical Journal, vol. 38, May 1964.

⁴⁹The hotel was in Constitution Street in District Six, then a largely “coloured” area of Cape Town.

⁵⁰See 1 Corinthians 15: 55: “Oh death, where is thy sting”.

⁵¹This was a point of considerable political importance for Sobukwe: he would not petition the apartheid government – which he viewed as wholly illegitimate – for release. To do so would be “to play their game”, to cede them a degree of legitimacy. By the same token, Sobukwe was determined that he would not accept any form of “charity” from the apartheid state. Hence his insistence that his wife and children pay for their own meals on the island while visiting him, and the constant need – so evident in his correspondence with Pogrund – to raise money for books, clothes, a heater, etc.

Nelson Mandela and Sobukwe differed on this issue of petitioning prison authorities for better conditions or greater privileges, as Mandela (1994) describes in Long Walk to Freedom:

"I have always respected Sobukwe, and found him a balanced and reasonable man. But we differed markedly about…prison conditions. Sobukwe believed that to fight poor conditions would be to acknowledge the state’s right to have him in prison in the first place. I responded that it was always unacceptable to live in degrading conditions and that political prisoners throughout history had considered it part of their duty to fight to improve them. Sobukwe responded that prison conditions would not change until the country changed." (323)

⁵²Isaiah 35: 1: “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose”.

⁵³The report entitled “Sobukwe Not Ill-treated” (Sunday Express, 28 October 1962) quoted Sobukwe describing his current physical condition as “Fit and well”. In response to allegations made by his former PAC associate Potlako Leballo, according to which he (Sobukwe) was being subjected to horrifying and brutal conditions of imprisonment, the journalist Gordon Winter quoted Sobukwe as saying, “Leballo’s report is entirely untrue and without foundation”. It is perhaps this last statement that Sobukwe has foremost in mind when characterising Winter’s writing as “imaginative”. This being said, Pogrund (2015: 199) does note that Sobukwe “insisted on going public to repudiate the allegations of his poor conditions [on Robben Island]”. Winter was later revealed to be a spy for BOSS, the Bureau for State Security. He later fled South Africa and published a book about his spying career, entitled Inside BOSS.

⁵⁴Pogrund is referring to the detention without trial of a number of his friends and colleagues.