May 23, 2008 – Africa Day was first marked on May 25, 1963 with the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was transformed into the African Union (AU) in 2002.
This 25th anniversary should be a day on which we Africans celebrate our unity and common purpose. Perhaps it should become a day on which all African leaders, from those in presidential palaces to leaders in local communities, commit themselves to making a reality the aspirations of all the people of this great continent – the hopes for enduring peace and prosperity.
As we at the Nelson Mandela Foundation commemorate the 25th Africa Day, we continue to work for true peace and reconciliation between Africans in our own country.
We applaud those who have been speaking out against the recent violent displays of intolerance and hatred towards our sisters and brothers from other African countries and those who are helping people who have lost loved ones, been injured and have lost their homes.
Dr Mamphela Ramphele, a former managing director of the World Bank and a Trustee of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, has added her voice to the outrage about the xenophobia in South Africa.
She said: “The most stubborn ghosts are those we are often too afraid to mention: racism, ethnic chauvinism, sexism and authoritarianism.” Dr Ramphele was speaking about her new book, Laying Ghosts to Rest: Dilemmas of the Transformation in South Africa, in an interview with Aspasia Karras of The Times newspaper. “Ironically, our liberation movement could not have prospered if our much poorer African comrades had not opened their countries to us,” she said.
Mr Mandela has consistently spoken about his gratitude to other African countries for their hospitality towards exiled South Africans fighting to end apartheid.
We should all reflect on his words spoken during an address to the United Nations General Assembly in 1998:
“As I sit in Qunu and grow as ancient as its hills, I will continue to entertain the hope that there has emerged a cadre of leaders in my own country and region, on my continent and in the world, which will not allow that any should be denied their freedom as we were; that any should be turned into refugees as we were; that any should be condemned to go hungry as we were; that any should be stripped of their human dignity as we were. I will continue to hope that Africa’s Renaissance will strike deep roots and blossom forever, without regard to the changing seasons.”
Let us, as we celebrate Africa Day, strive to turn Nelson Mandela’s hope into reality.