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Early European explorers & colonists, on their arrival in Africa, erected linguistic & other boundaries in order to make the African world comprehensible within their existing structure of knowledge. Strongly influenced by positivism, they believed these borders to be objective products of science. Social scientists have built on their classification of languages & ethnic groups. However, much of what the early experts viewed as scientifically defined, & hence objective, was in fact based on social & political considerations. This process is illustrated through a description of the use of the Tsonga language in Christian evangelism in Basutoland in eastern South Africa.

This book is a long-overdue history of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and the rise of the Africanist ideology in South Africa. From its formation in 1959, the PAC underground inside South Africa and in exile shaped the dynamics of the anti-apartheid movement and liberation struggle by framing alternative ideologies. Kwandiwe Kondlo analyses the radical traditions, the structural contradictions and the internal conflicts of this rival to the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's dominant liberation organisation. The contributions of some of the PAC leaders, including Robert Sobukhwe, Potlake Kitchener Leballo, Vusumzi Make and John Nyathi Pokela, are reconstructed as are the PAC's experiences in exile and the strategies pursued by its military wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Party (APLA). The role of the PAC in the power-sharing negotiations leading to the historic 1994 elections in South Africa round off the narrative. The PAC story is a highly controversial one, as the perspectives are wide and various. This book seeks to present a balanced picture which includes diverse views in a comprehensive narrative.