T H E T H I N K E R
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INTERNATIONAL
The twenty-first century quest for the re-birth of Africa has to realistically accept that some basic construction of a new African self-hood and activism is required.
By John Lamola
Mbeki redefines
African Renaissance
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V o l u m e 5 5 / 2 0 1 3
INTERNATIONAL
F
ormer President Thabo Mbeki’s article on the 50th anniversary of the OAU in The Thinker Volume 51 represents a historic contribution to the agenda of the African revolution.In a ground-breaking way, it refines and gives a new content to the concept of renaissance as introduced by Mbeki himself as a paradigm for a new activism for the development of Africa.
Mbeki bases his evaluative reflection on the record of the OAU on his reading of Emperor Haile Selassie’s opening address at the inaugural conference of the organisation in 1963. This leads him to a melancholic conclusion that, fifty years on, the dream of African unity still remains but a dream. Consistent with his assumption that African unity is an essential expression and condition of African renaissance, logically, he had to either despair of the rebirth of Africa, or find a new meaning and focus for the African renaissance project. He dramatically finds this new meaning as he comes to terms with Selassie’s assertion that, “in a real sense, our continent is unmade. It still awaits its creation and creators”.
Renaissance, literally, means a rebirth, a re-awakening, a re-discovery of what existed before and has, over time, become obscured. Mbeki’s re-reading of Selassie’s speech exposes the fact that fifty years on, there is no Africa to reawaken, Africa is still unmade, awaiting its creators. The concept of renaissance as deployed towards the Africa of today is therefore inappropriate.
An Africa that still see itself through the cultural lenses of the civilisation of the colonisers, and is governed by an elite pervasively bought into the global capitalist culture of self-enrichment that benefits external power centres;
an Africa that oozes with gold, platinum and diamonds yet needs the people of China to build its African Union headquarters, is definitely still awaiting its creation.
In the same vein, speakers at the recent Cape Town Africa World Economic Forum reminded the global investor community: Africa is not homogeneous; investors must not tar the whole continent with the same
brush. There is no singular unified entity that should be called Africa, but a potpourri of diverse regional idiosyncratic blocs of countries that deviate in varying degrees from the esteemed norms of Western economic management. Africa still awaits its creators.
Telling too, is the fact it is not uncommon to find debates and colloquia in southern African universities on the topic “Who is an African?” Africa is still unmade; the Africa to reawaken is still searching for its identity.
A concomitant reflection on how Africa was fundamentally unmade by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonial plunder and the continuing effects of this history on the quality of leadership
Africa has since had, leads Mbeki to a pivotal observation, against the background of Selassie’s remark, that,
“accordingly, our striving to achieve the renaissance of Africa must focus on the remaking of Africa!”
A robust and rigorous analysis of the state and condition of Africa as a geo-economic entity, as well as the cultural status and self-understanding of the people of Africa will corroborate this “remaking” paradigm. The concept of remaking alludes to a fundamental reconstruction. It does not entail the ad-hoc rushes to solve symptomatic problems that so much beset contemporary Africa. Central to
“remaking” would be a deliberate and conscious effort at developing a new and uniquely African way of looking at ourselves, and at understanding and
interacting with the world outside of Africa.
The root problem of Africa, in our humble observation, is its fixation with an exogenous mentality that cannot help but do and express everything with an eye to pleasing the external world forces, be they European, American or Asian. This has to be turned into an endogenous mentality, that will seek to do things for Africa, and for Africa’s sake only.
Given the urgency of the African plight, the implication of the remaking of Africa project has, therefore, to include the replacement of the historically dismal slogan of “Africa must unite” with “Africa first!” The latter has a more direct normative challenge for a change in mentality, which will automatically realise the intentions of the former. “Africa first” speaks of self-liberation and mobilisation against all those demons that keep Africa divided and weak, such as tribalism, and the proclivity to be used by external interests against the welfare of Africa and the African agenda.
“Africa first” will mean that we value those things African, including African people, above everything else.
This seemingly jingoistic afro-centrism is strategic. It is, in particular, a bitter remedy required in South Africa as an antidote against our self-hate which so amply expresses itself in a xenophobia that exclusively singles out black Africans.
Due to our education system that still treats Africa as an enigma fit for a museum, South Africans, both black and white, are woefully still caught up into an “Africa last” syndrome. This is starkly reflected in our street-naming grand parody where it is impossible to find a Nkrumah, Nyerere or Kaunda street in the capital city, where instead, preference is for the memorialisation of local Tshwane activists. Where is Agostinho Neto Street? Did Cuito Cuanavale never happen?
President Mbeki’s appreciation of Emperor Selassie’s wisdom is apt.
The twenty-first century quest for the re-birth of Africa has to realistically accept that some basic construction of a new African self-hood and activism is required. Arise, creators of Africa!
