Wits building renamed after former PAC leader Robert Sobukwe

A top South African university has ensured that former Pan Africanist Congress leader Robert Sobukwe's name will not be forgotten by renaming a building after him.

The University of the Witwatersrand renamed its Central Block the Robert Sobukwe Block after the Wits Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania tabled a motion to have the building renamed after its leader.

The building is situated on the institution’s east campus in Braamfontein‚ Johannesburg.

"We applaud this momentous event that is taking place today. It is really a step in the right direction to celebrate and honour those who have fought relentlessly for the realisation of freedom of a black man in this country.

Mangaliso (Robert) Sobukwe is one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid regime who was a politician‚ intellectual and academic in his own right who also problematised the system of oppressing a black man in this country‚" said Wits SRC president David Manabile.

Sobukwe died on February 27 1978 in Kimberley‚ Northern Cape‚ while under house arrest following his imprisonment on Robben Island‚ where he was kept in solitary confinement.

Sobukwe‚ a former ANC member and Wits lecturer‚ was known for his strong Africanist views and was instrumental in the formation of the PAC.

Wits Chancellor Justice Dikgang Moseneke said although this was an achievement‚ the university should have renamed the building after the anti-apartheid activist long ago.

"The recognition is late. It is belated [and] it is part of the big lie that suggests that leadership of our struggle for change and leadership for anti-decolonisation was located only in one place. It is a total lie and must be rejected out of hand‚" said Moseneke.

Justice Moseneke‚ who worked underground for the PAC during the 1980s and became its deputy president when it was unbanned in 1990‚ said Sobukwe was a unique leader who shook the apartheid government.

"What distinguishes Mangaliso Sobukwe from virtually every thinker and leader in this country‚ was his ability and power to problematise the kind of oppression that we have to overcome‚” said Moseneke.

Family representative Dinilesizwe Sobukwe‚ the son of Robert‚ was there for the unveiling of the plaque.