A MEMORIAL service for the late widow of the founder of the Pan African Congress (PAC), Prof. Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, was held at her home in Stockenstroom Street, Graaff-Reinet, yesterday.
Veronica Zondiwe Sobukwe passed away during the early hours of Wednesday morning at the local Midlands hospital after a long illness.
She was born on July 27, 1927 at Hlobane village in the KwaZulu-Natal.
She met Sobukwe while she was studying to become a nurse in Alice, Eastern Cape in 1949. The couple got married in 1950 and had four children; Miliswa, Dinilesizwe, Dedanizizwe and Dalindyebo.
The “Mother of Azania”, as she was affectionately known, was a political heavyweight in her own right as she was involved in various defiance campaigns including student protests and also wrote defiant letters to the then regime, demanding the immediate release of her husband and other political prisoners. After Sobukwe’s incarceration in 1963 she kept alive his dream and aspirations of advancing the cause of Pan Africanism.
After her husband’s death, she relocated to Graaff-Reinet where she also became actively involved in community and charity organisations and was also an esteemed member of the local Methodist Church, which acknowledged her contribution by renaming its circuit the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Circuit in honour of her husband.
She was also bestowed with the order of Luthuli by President Cyril Ramaphosa in April. “She was not only our pillar of strength but also a centre for unity as she always called for unity in the organisation,” said PAC president, Narius Moloto.
She will receive an official provincial funeral and will be laid to rest on Saturday, August 25 in Graaff-Reinet.