Sono was born in Polokwane, Limpopo, in 1942, Sono, like millions of others, learnt from a young age the daily horrors faced by black people living in South Africa. He attended primary school under a tree in his village this was a way of life for him and his young classmates. At this impressionable age Sono began adopting a rebellious attitude. His schoolteacher father decided to send him to a high school in Pretoria, in the hope that his son's behaviour would improve, but Sono had other ideas. "I was your average stone-throwing youth and spoke out against Europeans and their mistreatment of blacks...And I was also expelled from many high schools because of this," recalls Sono. He became a political activist at the age of 15.

Themba Sono was president of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) from 1971 until 3 July 1972 when he was expelled from the organisation (see extract). He was also co-founder of the Black People's Convention in 1971.

After his expulsion from SASO and completion of his degree, Sono received a scholarship to study abroad, he lived overseas for 20 years (USA). After completing his studies, he joined the academic world and became a renowned liberal scholar.

In 1998 he was appointed president of the South African Institute for Race Relations, which is a reputed liberal think tank. He served in this position until the year 2003. He was also president of the Free Market Foundation from 1997 to 2000. He joined the Democratic Party and became an active member. After complaining about poor race relations within the party he left it for a new party founded by Patricia De Lille, Independent Democrats. He is now a Member of Parliament for Gauteng Legislature and National Deputy president of the Independent Democrats.

Sono has written widely on the subject of free market policies and transformation. One of Sono's book titles is Reflections on the Origins of Black Consciousness.

Extract taken from the IOL article cited under sources, about Sono’s controversial expulsion from SASO, by Santosh Beharie

Sono was forcibly escorted from the venue of Saso's annual general council meeting and expelled from the organisation.

Freedom fighter and part-time lecturer, Strini Moodley, Saso's publications director at the time, recalls that day, when he was the first to put forward a resolution to have Sono expelled.

"We were a five-man executive and had decided to each compile a report, which I was to make into a composite report that Themba was to present to Saso delegates. But Themba refused to hand his report over.

"By then we had also received intelligence that Themba was visiting the United States embassy in Pretoria and were already suspicious of him.

"We soon realised that Themba was going to present his own report to the delegates. He stepped out of line. We had to stop him physically before he could take to the podium.

"The meeting was adjourned and we then formed a resolution to expel Themba from Saso with immediate effect. He was then escorted from the premises," said Moodley.

But Sono dismissed as lies and reacted angrily to the claim that he was physically removed from the meeting. He also claimed to have resigned from the Saso and was not expelled.

"I was the president of the organisation at the time and I made some propositions which the crowd did not like. Because of that, I decided to leave soon afterwards.

"But nobody physically removed me from that gathering. What happened that day is also contained in my book Reflections on the Origins of Black Consciousness. I just wish people would read more in this country before making comments about things they don't know about," said Sono.

Moodley, however, disagreed with Sono and his book. "I was there and am willing to meet Sono face to face to prove that I am telling the truth."

Moodley said intelligence reports proved to be true, because a few weeks after expelling Sono from Saso, Sono left for the US, where he lived for more than 20 years before returning.

References

• SAHO's feature on SASO (above under related)
• www.iol.co.za. 'I was merely a rented black skin' By Santosh Beharie. October 17 2004

back to top