In the early 1980s, a young South African exile named Jabu Radebe moved through underground networks, military camps, and foreign battlefields as part of the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress.
Forced out of apartheid South Africa as a teenager, he trained across Tanzania and Libya before fighting alongside the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon against the Israeli Defense Forces.
His story matters because it reframes the anti-apartheid struggle as part of a wider, coordinated global resistance rather than a purely national fight.
A struggle that did not start at the border
Radebe’s political journey began in Soweto in the 1970s, at a time when young people were being pulled into resistance movements out of both urgency and necessity. At 18, he joined the PAC and became involved in underground mobilisation efforts. Exile followed soon after.
Like many activists facing state pressure, he moved through neighbouring countries before reaching Tanzania, where he received political and ideological training. Libya came next.
There, Radebe underwent formal military training, equipping him with the skills that would later be used beyond South Africa’s borders. These movements were part of a broader network linking liberation struggles across continents.
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Lebanon was not a side mission
Radebe’s time in Lebanon marked a change from preparation to direct confrontation. Fighting alongside the PLO, he and other APLA cadres saw the conflict as an extension of their own struggle against apartheid. The geography was different, but the systems of control and resistance felt deeply familiar.
Training included advanced combat tactics and exposure to weaponry used in active conflict zones. At the same time, ideological differences emerged. The PLO’s emphasis on martyrdom contrasted with APLA’s focus on survival and sustained resistance.
Still, the alliance held.
Radebe’s reported nickname, “African tiger,” reflected both his role and the recognition of African fighters within the Palestinian struggle.
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“Terrible twins” and a shared enemy
A central idea in Radebe’s account is the characterisation of apartheid South Africa and Israel as “terrible twins.”
Within liberation movements, this reflected a belief in coordinated systems of oppression supported by political and military cooperation. For fighters on the ground, these were not distant policies. They shaped real strategies and real risks.
If oppression was interconnected, then resistance had to be as well.
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Freedom, but not for everyone
The end of apartheid did not translate into recognition for all who had fought. When Radebe was integrated into the South African National Defence Force, he was given the rank of sergeant despite extensive experience gained during exile. For many former APLA fighters, this felt like erasure.
The gap between sacrifice and acknowledgment became more visible. Frustrations grew over limited compensation, lack of formal recognition, and comparisons with other liberation movements on the continent that had structured reintegration and benefits for their fighters.
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Why this story still matters
Radebe’s account is not just historical. It speaks directly to the present. As South Africa takes positions on global justice issues, including legal action at the International Court of Justice, these histories resurface with renewed weight.
But beyond politics, there is a deeper concern: memory. Radebe’s reflections highlight the danger of incomplete narratives. When histories are simplified, the scale of solidarity and the depth of sacrifice are lost.
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The legacy we are still deciding
This story leaves behind difficult questions. About who gets remembered and how. About whether South Africa has fully acknowledged those who carried its struggle beyond its borders. And about whether solidarity remains something lived or something only referenced.
Because for Radebe and many like him, the struggle was never confined to one country. And in many ways, it still isn’t.
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