Clarence Makwetu, South African politician, Died at 88

Clarence Mlami Makwetu was born on December 6, 1928, and died on April 1, 2016.

He was a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician, and leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) during the historic 1994 elections.

The organisation (PAC) did not argue successfully during the Codesa negotiations that any settlement that did not tackle the land question was flawed, and this failure lead the party to be divided over whether to participate in the 1994 elections.

Clarence Makwetu argued for support, and ordered the party’s military wing, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla), to end its armed struggle, but with the party not fully behind the campaign, the party only won five seats in the historic first non-racial election.

Makwetu was voted out as a leader in 1996, being accused of bringing the party into disrepute, and retired.

Clarence Mlami Makwetu passed away at 88 yrs old.