OTD 60 years ago in Addis Ababa, African leaders founded the OAU, now known as the African Union (AU). It was the beginning of a post-colonial Pan-Africanism, now internationally marked as Africa Day.
At that time Southern Africa remained under the yoke of the British, and apartheid South Africa had crushed the Black political rights movement with trials and detentions. After 1960, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, and Lesotho were among the early independents, whereas Zimbabwe and Swaziland battled colonialism until the 1980s. Britain designed systems to ensure Southern African countries remained economically dependent on it and along with the instability caused by the apartheid-era, mineral and other extractions continued for decades.
ACTSA traces its continuous solidarity with Southern African people to 1960 when the Boycott Movement was formed, later turning into the Anti-Apartheid Movement until 1994, when Namibia (1990) and South Africa became the last to achieve majority rule through democratic elections. The backbone of this common cause for political rights was built through the trade union movements in Southern Africa and the UK.
Today ACTSA’s solidarity remains undimmed: reflect on how citizens of Zimbabwe and Swaziland (Eswatini) face risk of violence because protections for freedom of speech, association and assembly are increasingly ignored or used to restrict peaceful protest. Thulani Maseko, a respected Swazi lawyer was assassinated in January, and despite international calls for an independent investigation no action has yet been taken by the authorities. Job Sikhala, an elected member of Zimbabwe’s parliament, remains in pre-trial detention on trumped up charges of inciting violence.
Leaders of both these countries attended the Coronation in London earlier this month despite evidence from Amnesty and Human Rights Watch on the ongoing human rights abuses. You can read the UK’s Minister for Africa’s reply to questions about President Mnangagwa’s attendance here:
Zimbabwe will hold elections before August this year, but as yet no voter’s roll has been made available, while opposition party candidates remain at risk of politically motivated attacks.
In Swaziland, SADC-negotiated agreements in 2021 to hold talks with the absolute monarch have led nowhere. In particular trade union and student union activity is restricted, with cases of arrest, torture and violent policing is well documented.
The instability and insecurity for citizens led to many people fleeing to neighbouring countries including South Africa. This causes other tensions, however, and South Africa announced it will cancel Zimbabwean visitor visas from June 2023, signalling a hardening of policy for free movement across the continent. Nigeria repatriated 600 citizens from South Africa in 2019 after a wave of xenophobic violence against foreign nationals. The AU has an ambitious agenda for a peaceful and prosperous Africa by 2063, but this cannot be achieved without addressing historic inequalities. ACTSA calls on global North governments to provide appropriate grant funding to support democracy through free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, and the agreed ‘national dialogue’ in Swaziland. The UK has a particular responsibility to address its historic wrongs in the region.
Join ACTSA as we continue to work for #justice in Southern Africa – https://actsa.org/get-involved/membership/
Take action on Swaziland/Eswatini: https://actsa.org/attacks-on-human-rights-in-swaziland-eswatini-must-end/
More on AU: https://au.int/en/overview
Photo: Zimbabwe diaspora organisations with ACTSA call for the release of Job Sikhala MP after more than 300 days of pre-trial detention, April 2023.