Bloemfontein will join in on the Africa Day celebrations that are taking place throughout the land. The provincial Legislature, the Central University of the Free State as well as the University of the Free State have events lined up to commemorate this day.
First off, the Free State Legislature will collaborate with the Association of African Nationals and have roundtable discussions on issues affecting African Nationals residing in the province.
Organizations such as the South African Revenue Services (SARS), the Department of Home Affairs (DoH), South African Police Services (SAPS), South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and Brand South Africa will all be part of the dialogue.
This event will be from 08:00 on Thursday morning and will be held at the Chamber of the Fourth Raadsaal, in Bloemfontein. Any inquiries with regards to this event should be forwarded to Life Mokone, the Chief Spokesperson of the Free State Legislature. He can be reached via email at lifem@fsl.gov.za or his mobile on 076 231 6810.
Not too far from the provincial legislature building, will be another Africa Day celebration hosted by the Central University of Technology, Free State, in collaboration with Brand South Africa and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
These organizations will host a public lecture on the decolonization of the higher education curriculum. The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Hleze Kunju, whose Ph.D. thesis made headlines when he became the first Rhodes doctoral candidate to write his Ph.D. research in isiXhosa.
Adding on to the celebrations, CUT will also embark on activities aimed at promoting greater unity among CUT students, staff, and local communities.
These include a display of African cuisines by vendors on campus to showcase best cuisines from Africa; different university sections will adopt respective African states of students studying at CUT and display various artifact as part of public education and awareness helping CUT students to better understand Africa as a whole.“The University is very conscious of the important role it needs to play,” said Dan Maritz, CUT Spokesperson.
Lastly, also celebrating this important day is the University of the Free State (UFS), which will commemorate African unity and praise cultural heritage as well as to take ownership of the future of the continent.
As part of these celebrations, the UFS library in collaboration with the International Affairs will host a conversation on the Land Debate in South Africa. This dialogue will also coincide with the launch of a book titled “White Narratives: The Depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe” by Prof Irikidzayi Manase. Prof Manase is an Associate Professor at the university’s Department of English.
Director of the Centre for Africa Studies, Prof Heidi Hudson, says celebrating Africa Month forms part of her center’s institutional mandate to promote an African focus in research, teaching, as well as public debate.
“Africa Month provides an opportunity to every student and staff member to commemorate African unity and celebrate our rich cultural heritage, diversity, energy and social dynamism. Secondly, by participating we all begin to take ownership of our future on this continent.”
She adds that Africa Month provides a platform for reflecting on past experiences and achievements, as well as to critically assess the failures, challenges and the lessons learned for the sake of a better future for the continent’s people. For more information on this event, contact the UFS’s Communication Director, Lacea Loader at 051 401 2584 or 083 645 2454.
Africa Day is the day on which Africa observes the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963. A total of 32 independent African states attended the formation.
The OAU’s aims were to promote unity and solidarity of the African states and act as a collective voice for the continent, in order to secure Africa’s long-term economic and political future and to rid it of remaining forms of colonialism.
The OAU later gave birth to the African Union, which formally replaced the OAU in July 2002. Africa day is celebrated by countries in the continent every year on 25 May.
Statements issued by Free State Legislature, CUT and UFS- compiled by Pulane Choane
