01 JUN 2025

Africa Day commemoration: Generating hope for young Africans

WBS celebrated Africa Day 2025 with a thought-provoking discussion on justice, solidary, hope and regeneration.

The hybrid event, which took place on Friday 23 May, took inspiration from the African Union theme for 2025: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent, and the G20 theme for 2025: Solidarity, equality and sustainability, and resulted in an afternoon that was both sobering and celebratory.

Keynote speaker Professor Thuli Madonsela, Director of the Centre for Social Justice at the University of Stellenbosch, noted that Africa is a continent of paradoxes; a continent of setbacks and achievements. She drew attention to the multitude of hidden success stories that are often ignored, citing the example of Stephen Wamukota, a nine-year old Kenyan boy who, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, invented a hands-free hand sanitiser and was given the Presidential Order of Service Award.

“Children need to know about these achievements. They need to know that in adverse conditions, they can become problem solvers - resilient and resourceful,” she said. “We don’t need to look to the West for technology, but at the same time we have to nurture our children so that, like Stephen, they can be discovered and helped to reach their potential.”

The second keynote address was delivered by Alice Mogwe, Director of the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, who called for civil society to embrace a new contextual language based on African knowledge systems. “We need to celebrate our indigenous knowledge which predates colonialism. We need to recognise that the principles of ubuntu are at odds with the self-maximising behaviour that leads to the structural racism we are seeing around the world. Let us amplify the voices of Africans striving for pan-African ideals and restore the dignity of Africans.”

The annual Africa Day Commemoration at WBS is a collaboration between the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) at WBS, the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS), the African Philanthropy Network (APN), the Southern African Youth Forum (SAYoF) and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR).

In opening the session, Dr Nkosana Moyo, the founder of MINDS, noted a widespread lack of knowledge about Africa Day and what it stands for, saying “if our young people don’t know our history, we are failing them.”

The event concluded with a panel discussion to further explore the themes of justice, solidarity and sustainability for Africa with contributions from Prof Cheryl Hendricks (IJR), Dr Catherine Namakula (MINDS), Bongiwe Ndondo (APN), Prof Jacob Mati (CAPSI) and Kamal Dickson (SAYoF), moderated by Lawrence Dube (WBS).

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