During the month of May, Africans from around the world celebrated Africa Day to commemorate the establishment of Africa's first post-independent continental organisation, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. The OAU came about when 32 heads of independent African states met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The OAU (now known as the African Union or AU) brought a legacy to coordinate the African pursuit of freedom, which is celebrated annually today.
This year's celebrations, held at the University of Venda (Univen), were hosted by the Limpopo Premier's Office, in partnership with Univen.
Limpopo Mirror decided to speak to a few residents from the Vhembe area to see what the general feeling around this celebration was, and whether people still felt this sense of union as an African nation. The majority, however, did not seem to think so, saying that this was not the Africa they used to know.
"We expected to enjoy a better Africa, like in the 1970s, but this seems to be taking another route. The unity that we are supposed to be celebrating on Africa Day is now just a theory. Our African heads of state are failing to unite us. They do not cast their views beyond their own families. Africa Day is just a pipe dream," said Sewani Kaunda from Musina.
Joseph Maphosa from Tshikota Township agreed with Kaunda. "It is very unfortunate that Africa Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate unity, but it is just something written on paper. Our African leaders betray us. They just speak about Africa Day but do not follow procedures to unite African countries. There is really nothing tangible to show that Africans are united." Maphosa blames the dying of this unity to the former colonisers who, he said, applied the divide-and-conquer concept to dismantle the unity that was achieved in 1963.
Solomon Semono, another resident of Musina, was of the view that Africans are eager to unite but do not know where to start. "Most African heads of state and politicians are corrupt. They only put effort into what benefits them most. Africa Day is no longer relevant, as no one is practically channelling efforts towards uniting African countries." Semono's suggestion was that, for Africa to achieve unity, free movement must be possible within the continent.