• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us

For all official information and updates regarding COVID-19, visit the South African Department of Health's website at www.sacoronavirus.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Opinion

OPINION: AU must adopt a binding resolution declaring May 25 a compulsory public holiday

25 May 2022, 9:02 AM  |
Abbey Makoe Abbey Makoe |  @SABCNews
The headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

The headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

Image: Reuters

The headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

On 25 May, our continent celebrates African Unity Day – better known as Africa Day. The day marks the commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963. In only a dozen countries, sadly, Africa Day is a statutory public holiday. The day is supposed to provide the opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of the peoples and governments across the continent.

The fact that a mere twelve countries out of 55 member-states of the OAU’s successor, the African Union (AU) recognise Africa Day utterly leaves me in a fit of pique.

How dishonest, short-sighted, ill-advised and self-delusional can the AU be by paying lip service to a course they claim to champion?

How can the AU look itself in the mirror and be proud that they are keeping the legacy of the founding fathers of Africa?

For the uninitiated, the twelve countries that recognise Africa Day as a public holiday are as follows: Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia and Mauritania. This is a crude fact!

AU’s Agenda 2063 – “the Africa we want” – is the continental blueprint aimed at achieving inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period.

My question is: How does the AU expect to achieve its stated goals when the continent under the current AU leadership remains fragmented and disjointed?

There is hardly any evidence of unity of purpose by Mother Africa. The Francophone parts of Africa seem still loyal to their former colonial master, France. The Anglophone parts of the continent, mainly in Sub-Saharan, lack any iota of a common purpose doctrine. Mozambique would rather summon military assistance and the requisite intelligence from Rwanda than SA next door. We live a lie in this continent, and our attitude and abysmal behaviour towards a hugely crucial day in our calendar, 25 May, a day of unity, is proof of our delusions of grandeur.

No wonder even at the UN General Assembly, or UN Security Council, we hardly ever vote as a bloc. Our disunity is laid bare in the rarefied atmosphere of New York. The Global North always dangles its wealth in the dark to individual AU member-states in return for their support in dubious Western foreign policy positions.

Ukraine is a case in point. The invasion of Iraq by the US in 2003 is another. So is the immoral, illegal occupation of Palestine by apartheid Israel. The nauseating list is endless.

In fact, so mind-boggling are some of the decisions of the AU that it is difficult not to think of Africa as one huge joke of a billion people. Take for instance the diabolical decision to grant the State of Israel observer status at the AU HQ in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Clearly, the decision was not taken through a consensus, judging by objections from various countries including South Africa. To say extending such a privilege to Israel leaves much to be desired is an understatement.

Thabo Mbeki, one of the protagonists in the transformation of the OAU into the present-day AU, sought through his much-revered African Renaissance agenda to advocate for Africa’s self-determination, unity, identity and shared development.

The African Renaissance, a concept meaning that the African people shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve “cultural, scientific and economic renewal”, was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop in a series of essays between 1946 and 1960. Mbeki takes huge credit for popularising the concept in latter-day Africa.

Since Mbeki’s departure from public office and reduced participation in continental politics post his presidency, the African Renaissance agenda has quite literally taken a backseat. Notably, not all African leaders embraced its ethos, particularly the African Peer Review Mechanism. This was supposed to be a platform where dictators could be called out, thieves removed from office, coup leaders isolated and enemies of democratisation shunned, among others.

By all accounts a noble initiative. It sought to ameliorate the lives of ordinary Africans by holding their leaders, particularly the way-ward lot, accountable. Pity, it never saw the light of day. In social sciences, this is often referred to as “the disordered faults of progress”.

On 8 May 1996 former SA President Mbeki articulated during his much-heralded “I am an African” speech some wise counsel. He said: “The evolution of humanity says that Africa reaffirms that she is continuing her rise from the ashes. Whatever the setbacks of the moment, nothing can stop us now! Whatever the difficulties, Africa shall be at peace!” Powerful words from a hidden poet within Mbeki. Words of wisdom indeed. Undermined only by African leaders who, until this day, seem to represent only their jackets more than they do the people who vote them into power, wherever free and fair elections take place.

It is my honest belief that at the helm of the AU, it has to be put on the agenda as a matter of extreme urgency that Africa Day ought to be a public holiday from Cape to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar.

AU member-states need to adopt a binding resolution that would make it compulsory for all African governments across the continent to stay at home and observe 25 May through a flurry of activities aimed at honouring the vision of our forebears. Such a development would also encourage Africans in the Diaspora to observe the holiday in a similar fashion. It has to start with the willingness of the African leaders to walk the talk. It is not enough to make Africa Day statements and run to work. We need to emulate the courageous twelve countries who observe 25 May as a public holiday.

How can the international community take Africa seriously when Africa does not take herself seriously? A common agenda starting with declaring Africa Day a public holiday would lead to other progressive developments such as a single currency for the entire continent, similar to the Euro for the Europeans.

Once Africa adopts a common stance based on common interests, and unity of purpose, I foresee free economic zones emerging that would foster strong continental trade aimed at enriching the citizens.

Africa is a wealthy continent with natural minerals that are not found in other continents. The time is now to leverage our riches, and unity, as Mbeki observed. Unity is strength. United we stand, divided we fall.

Share article
Tags: Africa DayThabo Mbeki
Previous Post

Investigations into Bushiri’s permanent residency permits underway: Minister

Next Post

WHO says monkeypox ‘containable’ as more governments start limited vaccinations

Related Posts

BRICS nations

BRICS Summit rejects a Western-led unipolar world and its abuses, particularly sanctions

24 June 2022, 9:36 PM
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his wife Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi stand while Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde sign a guest book during their visit to national museum in Kinshasa

Retracing Belgium’s dark past in the Congo, and attempts to forge deeper ties

23 June 2022, 9:20 AM
Halima Hassan Abdullahi points at the graves of her daughter's twins Ebla and Abdia, who died of hunger, May 25, 2022.

No time for complacency: Somalia’s unfolding famine catastrophe

22 June 2022, 5:15 PM
Gupta brothers

What it’ll take for the Guptas to face corruption charges in South Africa

21 June 2022, 7:47 PM
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki: Celebrating 80 Years of Impactful Living

20 June 2022, 12:37 PM
China's national flag is seen in front of cranes on a construction site at a commercial district in Beijing, China, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

There is no stopping growing China-Africa relations as Wu Peng tours the continent

17 June 2022, 5:20 AM
Next Post
Head of the Institute of Microbiology of the German Armed Forces Roman Woelfel works in his laboraty in Munich, May 20, 2022, after Germany has detected its first case of monkeypox.

WHO says monkeypox 'containable' as more governments start limited vaccinations

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • EMS says fire at Bree Street Taxi Rank in Johannesburg has been extinguished
  • The public has until 18 May to make submissions on Icasa’s regulations for extension of expiry period for data, airtime
  • ANC NEC expected to hold a special meeting on Sunday
  • Eastern Cape flood victims plead for support as access to food, services remains difficult
  • Amathole Regional Secretary elated to have corruption charges against him dropped
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • South Africans no longer required to wear face masks indoors
  • E Cape Liquor Board says Enyobeni tavern owner will face criminal charges
  • More COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted including the wearing of masks
  • East London police search for clues that led to tavern death; calls to revoke tavern’s licence 
  • UPDATE: At least 17 people killed in an East London tavern stampede
  • Mosimane alleges sabotage from CAF President Patrice Motsepe
  • SANTACO and NTA calls on COSATU to join the national shutdown over the hiking fuel prices
  • 18-year-old Durban woman defrauded of inheritance left by late father

LATEST

A test tube labelled with the vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, September 9, 2020.
  • Sci-tech

AstraZeneca gets EU backing for targeted breast cancer therapies


Newly-elected Gauteng African National congress Chairperson Panyaza Lesufi.
  • Politics

Phala Phala farm saga a major setback for the ruling party: Lesufi


Football player playing with the ball.
  • Sport
  • Soccer

Talent identification taking place during football’s off-season


An image depicting a crime scene.
  • South Africa

Bereaved families demanding speedy probe following Enyobeni tavern tragedy


A protester holds a sign during nationwide demonstrations following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the possibility of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision.
  • World

Abortion clinic challenges Louisiana ‘trigger’ ban after U.S. Supreme Court ruling


Firefighters extinguish a burning fire.
  • South Africa

Johannesburg mayor visits families left homeless following a devastating fire in Alexandra


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Investigations into Bushiri’s permanent residency permits underway: Minister
Next WHO says monkeypox ‘containable’ as more governments start limited vaccinations