Azanian People ' s Liberation Army The Azanian People ' s Liberation Army ( APLA ) was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress ( PAC ) in South Africa . It was originally called " Poqo " . History . The organisation was founded in 1961 following the 1960 massacre by police of PAC - led protestors . In the 1960s , APLA commander Potlako Leballo modeled the APLA on the Chinese People ' s Liberation Army , with Templeton Ntantala as his deputy . APLA , then known as Poqo , targeted Paarl on 22 November 1962 . A crowd of 250 men , armed with axes , pangas and other home - made weapons , marched from Mbekweni location to the town and attacked the police station , homes and shops . They also killed two Whites , Frans Richard ( 22 ) and Rencia Vermeulen ( 18 ) . On 4 February 1963 a family camping at Bashee River in the Transkei were murdered . Norman and Elizabeth Grobbelaar , their teenage daughters Edna and Dawn , together with Mr . Derek Thompson , were hacked to death in their caravans . In 1976 , APLA received 500 recruits , including 178 Basotho for a new Lesotho Liberation Army ( LLA ) , to be formed as an offshoot of the exiled - Basutoland Congress Party , under the leadership of Matooane Mapefane , who was a senior instructor of APLA in Libya . Ntantala ' s original group of 70 APLA soldiers felt threatened by the influx of new recruits . Ntantala attempted a coup against Leballo in Dar es Salaam , but was prevented by LLA soldiers , a move which exacerbated tensions within the PAC factions the " Diplomat - Reformist " ( DR ) and " Maoist - Revolutionary " ( MR ) . Vus Make appointment as the new PAC leader sparked a mutiny at Chunya camp on March 11 , 1980 , during which several APLA forces were killed and the rest further factionalised and were confined to different camps , while many escaped to Kenya . Leballo himself relocated to Zimbabwe in late 1980 along with senior intelligence and air force personnel from the MR faction . Pressure from Tanzania , however , resulted in his deportation in May – June 1981 , as well as the deportation or imprisonment of the others . Make was replaced by John Nyathi Pokela ( who was released from Robben Island in 1980 ) , but his ineffectual term of office was marred by further mutinies , executions and assassinations . Following Pokela ’ s death , Leballo made a comeback through support from Libya , North Korea , and Ghana . After his sudden death in January 1986 ( when it was discovered he was actually 70 not 60 ) , the DR faction , outmaneuvered by the ANC , fell into disarray leaving behind the legacy of a semi - national socialist political front . After 1986 , APLA rejected the MR faction ' s concept of the guerrilla as a social reformer and instead adopted an ultimately disastrous rallying cry of " one settler , one bullet . " In the 1990 – 94 period , it became known for its attacks on civilians despite the progress in negotiations at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa . In 1994 , APLA was absorbed into the new South African National Defence Force , though MR members refused to accept the agreement . Attempts by MR officers to regroup in Vietnam , North Korea , and China were unsuccessful ; although links were maintained with the Tamil Tigers and Maoist groups in Nepal and India . Occasional propaganda leaflets distributed within South Africa focusing on disparity of wealth and the issue of land . Attacks . In 1993 , the APLA ’ s chief commander , Sabelo Phama , declared that he " would aim his guns at children - to hurt whites where it hurts most . " Phama proclaimed 1993 as " The Year of the Great Storm " and sanctioned the following attacks on civilians : In total thirty - two applications were received for attacks on civilians . In these incidents , 24 people were killed and 122 seriously injured . The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has presently charged that PAC - sanctioned action directed towards white South Africans were " gross violations of human rights for which the PAC and APLA leadership are held to be morally and politically responsible and accountable " .