The history of South Africa is as dynamic as its rainbow nation and one can only do justice by tracing the kind of lives the indigenous African people lived before the apartheid era. This period was characterized by migration of indigenous people around the continents from all directions because the continent was theirs to explore. Oral historians attest to the fact that indigenous people kept livestock, practiced agriculture and were involved in trading of goods with East Africa, Middle East, India and China and thus lived a sustainable life. The latter was verified by excavation sites like the Mapungubwe, which is reported to have been the largest kingdom in the subcontinent before abandonment in the 14th century. According to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, Mapungubwe traded gold and ivory bringing in great wealth to this Kingdom. The landscape of Mapungubwe was recently nominated as the World Cultural Landscape by the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.
With the above background, one can envision what the colonisers had to do to disenfranchise the indigenous African people. They had to use violence to dominate, plunder the resources and wealth, take the land, enforce divisive laws and discriminate on the basis of color and creed in order to ensure subservience. Their actions threatened the very essence of human survival, pride, dignity and freedom. This strategy disintegrated the fabric of the African society that subscribed by the principle of Ubuntu, which inculcates the spirit of cooperation, being just and being of service to others. With the onset of the illegitimate Apartheid white minority regime, South Africa’s indigenous people and culture were doomed to be extinct. However, this was not to be as Nelson Mandela and his compatriots like OR Tambo, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Duma Nokwe, Lilian Ngoyi and many more resisted and fought to overthrow the unjust government to achieve freedom and justice for all.
The words of Nelson Mandela, be they his own or those of others, gave him strength, conviction, resolve and determination to soldier on and unite the country. He continues to be an inspiration not only to South Africa but world-wide. These words will outlive us and grace the chronicles of history because they refer to basic universal values and aspirations of mankind. They call for self-introspection; evaluations of our contribution and to consciously choose to be part of the solution to make the world a better place. Do we expect a Utopia? The answer is a categorical no and yes. For as long as human greed and discrimination based on color and creed (belief) exists, there can be no Utopia. Thus the world must unite, take action to minimize the devastating effects of such behavior. In this regard the Nelson Mandela Foundation launched a campaign for people to take only 67 minutes of their time to contribute towards making the world a better place as world poverty, hunger and lack of shelter require the same resolve. Filipinos did it before when you boycotted South Africa and contributed towards the toppling of the Apartheid white minority regime and for this, we sincerely thank you. Let us continue to address poverty, hunger and lack of shelter because this universal struggle continues.
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(Agnes Nyamande Pitso is the Ambassador of South Africa)