Dogged by internal wrangling for years, the Pan Africanist Congress seems bent on writing itself off the annals of this country's history - particularly from pan-African efforts to rebuild the continent.

Dogged by internal wrangling for years, the Pan Africanist Congress seems bent on writing itself off the annals of this country's history - particularly from pan-African efforts to rebuild the continent.

Yesterday the party's national executive committee announced the expulsion of its former president Motsoko Pheko, accusing the party stalwart of misusing funds and bringing the party's image into disrepute.

Pheko has dismissed the charges, saying they are a fabrication and an attempt to remove him from his seat in parliament. Whatever the reasons behind Pheko's expulsion, the move does not augur well for a party seeking to rebuild itself and become a force it once was.

Pheko is the second former PAC president to be shown the door - Clarence Makwetu, its past president, was expelled in 1997.

Makwetu's departure led to internal strife with some members rejecting his successor, Bishop Stanley Mogoba.

That the PAC is its own worst enemy is beyond doubt. Its fractious conduct has resulted in dwindling support since 1994.

Deputy president Themba Godi warned last week that internal squabbles were threatening the PAC's existence.

It's a warning that has been all too familiar throughout the party's turbulent history and one it would ignore at its own peril this time.