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The true heroes and heroines of
the African Renaissance
This week,
in the city of Durban, the African Union was born.
On July 9th, the peoples of Africa took a giant step
forward towards the realisation of the dream of African unity. On this
day, Durban hosted the launch of the African Union in a public ceremony
attended by the political leaders of the peoples of Africa and thousands
of our people.
Earlier on the day, the Assembly of Heads of State and
Government of the African Union held its first meeting. On the following
day, the Executive Council of Ministers, held its own first meeting.
As the Summit closed, Africa's leaders expressed their
deep and sincere appreciation for everything the people of South Africa
did to ensure the successful birth of the African Union.
One among these said that he has attended Summit Meetings
of the OAU since 1979. He said he could state it without hesitation that
the Durban Summit was from all points of view, the best he had attended.
Other African leaders, including Heads of State and Government, Ministers,
Ambassadors and senior officials echoed this view.
These leaders spoke of the manner in which they were
received when they arrived in the city of Durban. They talked about the
way in which they were accommodated. They addressed the physical infrastructure
and the services provided for them to do their work efficiently and productively.
On all these matters they conveyed their thanks to the people of our country.
Africa's leaders expressed their appreciation also for
the manner in which the business of the Assembly was conducted. This included
the efficient transportation of all delegates to the International Conference
Centre so that they could begin their meetings on time and generally honour
the decisions they had taken about how the Summit should be conducted.
As Africans, they were especially inspired by the manner
in which the African Union was launched in the public event at the Absa
Stadium in Durban. They felt the public launch succeeded to convey the
objectives of the Union to the peoples of Africa. They felt the launch
succeeded to communicate to the peoples of our continent the need for
all of us as Africans to respond to our challenges together, seriously
and on a sustained basis.
They were pleased that thousands attended the public
launch to express the support of the African people for the Union and
truly to celebrate what these masses saw and understood as an historic
moment that called for a celebration.
They were moved that those who participated in the various
performances during the launch did what they had to do with passion and
dignity, with evident joy and pleasure, with pride that they were part
of the process of giving birth to a new Africa, with understanding of
their responsibility to the continent to perform their part well.
As they prepared to leave our country, Africa's political
leaders felt that Africa had made a new beginning, in a manner that lived
up to the epoch making process of the launch of the African Union.
We owe the outstanding success of the launch of the
African Union in conference and in public, to the work done by our Ministers
to ensure that we achieve this result. This entailed many months of preparations
relating to the content and logistic requirements of the AU Summit.
Many of our Ministers had to be in Durban during the
days during which Africa's leaders met to decide the future of the continent.
Some of them participated in all the meetings as our delegates, working
with their continental colleagues to ensure that the Durban Summit emerged
with positive results in the interest of the peoples of Africa.
Others had to attend to the reception of these leaders
as they set foot in our country, as well as their farewell. They had to
communicate to these leaders the happiness of our people that the continent
had agreed to hold its last OAU Summit and its first AU Summit in our
country. They had to extend to our visitors and guests the warm welcome
and the message of solidarity that the masses of our people surely sought
to convey to our brothers and sisters from the rest of our continent.
Yet others had to ensure that the leadership of the
continent was provided with proper and adequate security at all times.
They had to make certain that this leadership was properly accommodated
and transported. They had to satisfy themselves that we had created the
necessary conditions and environment for the leaders of our people to
do their work.
Others had to attend to the proper organisation of the
public launch of the African Union. This involved very detailed work to
ensure a seamless presentation of an imaginative programme stretching
over a number of hours. They had to ensure that the occasion as a whole
reflected the historic importance of the formation of the African Union.
In all this, our Ministers were supported and assisted
by other public representatives, members of our public service, the state
security organs and other state institutions. All these applied themselves
to their work with the same intensity and dedication shown by our Ministers.
They shared the understanding of our Ministers, that they owed it to the
sister people of Africa to ensure that the Durban Summit achieves excellent
results.
The City of Durban and its International Conference
Centre also made certain that the city and the meeting place were properly
prepared to receive and service our important guests. The streets of Durban
and other public places, including the stadium of the public launch of
the AU, the services and personnel required of the city, stood ready to
contribute to the common success.
The major political organisations in the province of
KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC and the IFP, as well as other popular organisations,
joined forces to work for the success of the public launch of the AU.
We owe the outstanding success of this occasion to the work done by these
organisations to mobilise the masses of our people to attend the public
launch.
There are the people themselves, whose impressive presence
at the Absa Stadium communicated the strong message that they are the
true creators of Africa's better future, without whose conscious involvement,
the struggle for our continent's renewal will not succeed. This includes
our working people who were present everywhere the delegates were, and
ensured that everything that had to be done was done, and done well.
Africa's leaders spoke freely of the inspiration they
drew from the presence and response of the large number of ordinary South
Africans at the public launch.
At this launch, our National Defence Force distinguished
itself as a disciplined professional formation, as did our Police Service.
So did our artists - musicians, dancers and poets, both modern and traditional
- whose magnificent performances conveyed the message that Africa is about
its renaissance in all fields, including the critically important area
of arts and culture.
It was good that Senegalese musicians joined the African
celebration in Durban. Correctly, members of the South African and Senegalese
national soccer teams, Bafana Bafana and the Lions of Senegal, joined
the celebration parade, to represent the commitment of Africa's sportspeople
to the renaissance of Africa.
Our private sector also played its role to contribute
to the success of Africa's advance towards a better future. Among other
things, it donated resources to transform an Air Force hangar into a lounge
fit to receive our distinguished guests. It provided the valuable gold
and tanzanite identification badges worn by Africa's Heads of State and
Government. It paid for the billboards and many posters that adorned Durban
and communicated our country's message of welcome.
Our public broadcaster, the SABC, worked to discharge
its obligatory responsibility accurately to inform both our people and
the peoples of Africa about the proceedings and issues at the formation
of the African Union. Africa's leaders spoke of telephone calls they received
from their citizens, who congratulated them on the successful launch of
the Union.
These fellow Africans had watched the proceedings in
Durban, thanks to the satellite broadcasts of the public broadcaster.
Our continent's leaders were pleased that the masses of our people, in
many parts of our continent, were present at the birth of the AU in our
part of Africa, which they also see as their home. Other media organisations,
both domestic and foreign, also did what they could to inform humanity
about what was happening in Durban.
All the South Africans to whom we have referred, and
many others, joined hands to contribute what they could to the rebirth
of our continent and the creation and strengthening of African institutions
dedicated to ending conflict, poverty and underdevelopment on our continent.
They were embarrassed and disturbed that there were some in our country
that decided to undermine this magnificent, united national effort.
These were the striking municipal workers in Durban
who, while exercising their legitimate right to strike, decided that they
would welcome the rest of Africa by fouling the streets of Durban with
refuse. Prompted and encouraged by their leaders, these sought to misuse
and degrade the songs, slogans and communication methods of our movement
for national liberation, and thus dishonour and betray our movement at
a critical moment in Africa's continuing liberation struggle.
During the few days that encompassed the formation of
the African Union, when the eyes of Africa and the world focussed on Durban,
our people demonstrated their commitment to the rebirth of our continent.
They showed their capacity to unite in action to achieve the noble goal
of the emancipation of the peoples of Africa from conflict, poverty and
underdevelopment.
Our country and continent salutes them without qualification.
They have done us proud. All of Africa feels immensely proud that these
successors of Albert Luthuli, regardless of race, colour, gender and class,
are her children. All of Africa hails these architects of the success
in Durban as true Heroes and Heroines of the African Renaissance.
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