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Members of Parliament displayed their passion and frustration over
the African continent during a heated commemoration of Africa Day in Parliament
yesterday.
Democratic Alliance MP Stevens Mokgalapa lamented third-termism,
homophobia and the African Union’s withdrawal from the International Criminal
Court as areas that clouded the continent’s achievements.
“The persecution and harassment of opposition leaders should be
challenged,” continued Mokgalapa.
He added illegal amendments of constitutions and the African
Union’s slow responses to conflict to his list of things needing to be fixed in
Africa.
Africa Day commemorates the formation of the Organisation of
African Unity 53 years ago. The organisation has since been replaced by the AU,
where South African politician Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is serving her final
months as AU Commission chairperson.
Mokgalapa said the African Court of Justice was a disappointment
and the Southern African Development Community Tribunal was disbanded because
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe did not like it.
It was disbanded in 2012, following a finding in favour of a white
farmer, who had had land taken away during Zimbabwe’s land reform programme.
Mugabe questioned the validity of the tribunal and withdrew from it. Plans were
afoot to reconstitute it with a new mandate.
FF Plus MP Pieter Mulder expressed his despair that Afrikaners were
not being accepted on the continent.
“I don’t have a second address and my language is only spoken
here,” he said. It was time to stop blaming colonialism for the continent’s
problems and look instead to the effect of bad decisions and internal strife, he
said.
At least 26 African countries had said they could use the expertise
of the white farmers, but in South Africa they felt rejected for political
reasons, Mulder added.
Pan Africanist Congress MP Luthando Mbinda said: “Much if not all
of what we call independent African countries is nothing but a facade. Even
today Africa is still a happy hunting ground for imperialists.”
It was not all doom and gloom, he continued, praising the SABC for
its experiment to fill 90% of its playlists with South African music.
DA MP Wilmot James felt there was no point in blaming colonialism
for the continent’s problems.
“It is over. Governments of Africa are in charge now.” They were
rebalancing relations and the continent had the second-fastest growing economy
in the world, with billions in partnerships being developed.
Mention of colonialism got ANC MP Moses Masango fired up and
defending the continent. Underdevelopment was a legacy of colonialism, he said.
The scars of that period were unyielding and deeply rooted.
“I thought that as an Afrikaner you would appreciate what happened
to you under the British,” Masango said to Mulder, touching on a sensitive topic
for Afrikaners, who battled British rule for decades.
He said according to the FF Plus’s election manifesto, the party
did not support affirmative action, black empowerment, land reform, or race
quotas. The only thing that got the thumbs up from them was a Christian god,
without acknowledging other religions in the country, said Masango.
He defended the South African government’s handling of a request
that Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir be detained and handed to the
International Criminal Court last June. There was a broader interest to that
decision, he explained.
The AU decided that all member states must ignore the court because
it persecuted Africans.
“Just imagine what would have happened to 3000 South Africans in Sudan. Why are other countries not arresting him? They know where to find him.” – News24
