Zapu Youth Front's Africa Day message

25th May is the heroic day in African continent and to all the Africans as they celebrate being Africans

Africa is made up of diverse, languages, cultures, norms, traditions and customs.African philosophy called "Humanity/ buntuism or spirit of u Ubuntu" briefly says "umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu" .This encourages all Africans to be tolerant to one another, people must learn to respect each other, treat each other in a good way, be able to solve disputes in a good way without violence. Africans must also learn to forgive and forget.

Most Africans have abolished and abandoned their cultures and in doing that, they lost their identities. Other Africans have adopted western and Asian cultures.

Caving, cuisines, traditional dancing and solving disputes through the guidance of senior members of the clan, elders or the Chiefs are some of the African cultural activities.

If we study history of the earliest inhabitants of central and Southern Africa, history of the stateless states where nomadic pastoralism was practiced up to now, any one can determine how things have changed. African culture is deteriorating.

The ministers of culture must make sure that in the curriculum in school's , they implement and recognize African culture and its customs and traditions.

There are many factors which brought challenges to Africa

Colonization " The white settlers came to Africa in search of raw materials to boost their industries in Europe, then they took the precious materials such minerals, skin hides, ivory and beads "

Slavery- Africans where taken from African countries to work for free In the Atlantic and Caribbean sugar plantations

Christianity-although it was OK, some of the missionaries saw it as an advantage to spread it and achieve their political goals while they traded with African Chiefs and also to change Africans to Christianity abandoning their culture.

Apartheid which led to hatred, insegregation, settler brutality, and Group Areas Act in countries such as Zimbabwe and South Africa

Decolonization- This process left Africa leaking wounds, it led to the death of many Africans who were defending their lands, identity and cultures. The influx of many Europeans to boost their countrymen in war and to start businesses also made the Africans to suffer due to mixed marriage problems because there were intermarriages of different cultures and this also disturbed African continents.

The newly independent African states Presidents adopted dictatorship, petty jealous, embezzlement of the states funds, some of them went back to colonial laws and just twisted the words and continued with apartheid laws. There were holocausts such as Gukurahundi genocide in Zimbabwe, Marikana killings, and xenophobia in South Africa.

 

Ethnic and boundary conflicts for example in Burundi and Rwanda.Such conflicts in Africa are caused by push and pull factors, socially, politically and economically.

ZAPU youth front says " Africa must unite economically, socially and politically. If Africa was united, Zimbabwe won't be in serious economic crisis. Mugabe was going to be shown the exit door long back, SADC was going to be a strong regional block which does not favour African dictators who clintopower. The induction, intimidation and killings happening in Africa caused by ruling elites were going to stop.

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Sikhumbuzo Moyo ZAPU National Youth Front Secretary for Information and Publicity