Drum Magazine social history photographs, South Africa edition 1564

Africanists Cut Loose – Robert Sobukwe. It was one of the stormiest conferences for many a day. Tempers flared, sticks were brandished. But it was not violence which made the drama. The high moment, the real tension came with the decision of the Africanists to split from the Transvaal Congress. Saturday, November 1, 1958. The threat of rain in the air; of political roar in the area. We wait impatiently outside the Sekgapa-Madi Blood-spilling Hall in Orlando, Joburg, where many a bloody Congress has broken out in the past. Scheduled to open at 2pm, the conference does not begin until well after 3.30pm. Meanwhile, feverish and purveys beer, show that last minute plans are being polished up.