John Nyathi Pokela - Incarceration On Robben Island

Incarceration On Robben Island

In 1966, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Robben Island on charges of sabotage related to the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), the militant wing of the Pan Africanist Congress; he had helped found the APLA (originally known as Poqo) in 1961, along Z. B. Molete and Clarence Mlali Makwetu.

While incarcerated, Pokela worked towards uniting the various factions of the PAC. In 1980, having served his sentence, Pokela was released from Robben Island. In February 1981, he was appointed to succeed Vusumzi Make, (who had resigned after the Chunya massacre in March 1980 when APLA troops refused to accept his leadership), to become head of the Tanzanian backed faction of the PAC. His leadership was rejected by the survivors of the 500 strong APLA Chunya force as well as the Maoist PAC factions in Zimbabwe, Libya, Ghana, and Kenya but Tanzania persuaded the Mugabe government to deport or imprison the major opponents (Leballo, Leeman, Gaelisiwe, Buqwana) .