born Dec. 5, 1924, Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony
died Feb. 27, 1978, Kimberley, S.Af.
South African black nationalist leader.
Sobukwe insisted that South Africa be returned to its indigenous inhabitants ("Africa for the Africans"). Charging the African National Congress with being contaminated by non-African influences, he founded the Pan-Africanist Congress in 1959 and became a leader in the Pan-African movement . Arrested in 1960, he spent the rest of his life in prison or under house arrest.