How Sokoine’s death threw ANC into panic

Dar es Salaam. The African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's ruling party, currently finds itself grappling with a crisis of confidence stemming from President Jacob Zuma's corruption scandals and the misappropriation of public funds.

This is not the first time the ANC has faced such a challenge.

In 1984, the party encountered a significant crisis when one of its members, Dumisani Dube, was involved in a tragic car accident that claimed the life of Edward Moringe Sokoine near Dakawa, in the Morogoro Municipality.

At that time, ANC members were housed at camps in Mazimbu and Dakawa in the Morogoro Region, and this incident caused considerable distress within the party, as indicated by archival records.

Sokoine served as both Prime Minister and Second Vice President of Tanzania, and he was widely regarded as a potential successor to the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

The timing of the accident heightened concerns about the ANC's support in Tanzania, particularly given the recent expulsion of ANC members and arrests in neighbouring countries such as Swaziland and Mozambique, under pressure from the apartheid regime.

Exactly one month before Sokoine's untimely death, Mozambique had signed the Nkomati Agreement with the South African government, which mandated that Mozambique cease permitting the ANC and other liberation movements to operate within its borders.

This development led ANC leadership to fear that more Southern African nations might yield to Boer pressure and withdraw their support for the party.

On May 2, 1984, then-party president Oliver Reginald Tambo addressed the distress felt by the ANC over Sokoine’s death during a visit to the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Mazimbu.

Tambo, along with ANC Secretary General Alfred Nzo, had represented the movement at Sokoine's burial in Monduli.

They learnt of the ANC's involvement only upon their arrival in Arusha for the funeral ceremony.

Tambo expressed his shock that an ANC member had been involved in the accident.

"Even if he had died from a heart attack, it was very sad. We knew him; we adored him immensely. We followed his work, and he was one of the greatest men this country has known," Tambo stated, reflecting on Sokoine’s legacy.

"But it became unbearable, certainly for me, when I got the details of how he lost his life, how Tanzania lost him," he continued.

"The ANC was involved... Although accidents occur, if we were not on the road that day, there would have been no accident. The Prime Minister would still be alive. But we happened to be on the road, and that determined the end of his life," Tambo noted.

He recalled that just weeks before the accident, he had sought Nyerere's commitment to continued support for the ANC.

"He gave us strength. He was so cool. He was so correct in what he said. He understood the situation so clearly, and we went back strengthened, inspired, and confident," Tambo remarked.

Additionally, Tambo highlighted a moment when President Nyerere made a statement in support of the ANC during a visit from the President of Mali, serving as a pillar of strength for the party.

"Here was this pillar of strength defending the ANC, summoning the OAU and the people of the world to rally," he noted.

Tambo lamented the tragedy occurring in a country that was steadfastly supporting the ANC during a time of dire need.

"Then came this tragedy when we needed support, I think, more than at any time in the past 24 years. We had never been in this situation. President Nyerere and his people stood up to be counted on our side. Then, at that moment, came this worst of all tragedies."

Fortunately for Tambo and the ANC, Tanzania's support remained unwavering. Following Sokoine’s burial, President Nyerere sent Tambo a letter expressing gratitude for the ANC's condolences and for personally representing the party at the funeral.

"This demonstration of solidarity and shared grief encourages us as we struggle to adjust to our great loss," Nyerere added in his correspondence.