Azanian People's Liberation Army
| Azanian People's Liberation Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1961-1994 |
| Country | South Africa |
| Allegiance | Pan Africanist Congress |
| Type | Paramilitary, Terrorist organisation |
| Nickname(s) | APLA |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Matooane Mapefane, Potlako Leballo, Vusumzi Make, John Nyathi Pokela |
The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa.
After attacks on and the murder of several white families the APLA was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African National government and the United States, and banned.
APLA was disbanded and integrated into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in June 1994.
In 1968 the "Azanian People's Liberation Army" replaced defunct "Poqo" as the armed wing of the PAC. Its name was derived from Azania, the ancient Greek name for Southern Africa.
Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa. In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast extending from Kenya, to perhaps as far south as Tanzania.
Poqo was founded in 1961 following the massacre of PAC-led protestors at the hands of police outside the Sharpeville police station the previous year.Potlako Leballo, the chairman of the PAC at the time of the formation of its military wing in the 1960s, modelled APLA on the Chinese People's Liberation Army, with Templeton Ntantala as his deputy.
Members of Poqo targeted the town of Paarl in the Western Cape on 22 November 1962, when a crowd of over 200 people armed with axes, pangas and other home-made weapons marched from the Mbekweni township into Paarl and attacked the police station, homes and shops. Two white residents, Frans Richard and Rencia Vermeulen were killed. This attack was followed by the murder of a family camping at Bashee River in the Transkei on 4 February 1963. Norman and Elizabeth Grobbelaar, their teenage daughters Edna and Dawn, together with Mr Derek Thompson, were hacked to death in their caravans.
...
Wikipedia