George Ngwane

Beyond the Mandela Moment

Mwalimu George Ngwane*

Clearly the Mandela moment is still to fizzle out.  Twenty years after his release from prison (1990) and eleven years after his brief stint as President of South Africa (1994-1999), Nelson Mandela’s towering presence and aura still invade the privacy of South Africa’s life and by extension the corridors of global attention.


A statue of Nelson Mandela stands outside the gates of Drakenstein Correctional Centre (formerly Victor Verster Prison), near Paarl in Western Cape province, February 10, 2010. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly
 

Yet South Africa has to be robust enough in forging a tapestry of a post-Mandela nation at a time when the ninety-one year old icon has legitimately withdrawn to the confines of family life.

Walls Without Borders (Notes to the African Powercrat)

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The collapse of the Berlin wall in Germany and before it the Apartheid wall in South Africa and the Iron Curtain in Russia must have shaken the foundation of the neo-liberal wall in Obama’s America today.

The flurry of appointments by President Barack Obama across party ideological divide would have to inspire powercrats in Africa to rethink the rationale of unchecked party bigotry that has given birth to powercracy, leadership tenacity syndrome and state atrophy in our continent.

Qadhafi’s New Garb

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Loathe him or love him, Muammar Qadhafi is the Chairman of the African Union Commission for the year 2009.  Qadhafi must be lucky with the number 9.  Oil was discovered in Libya in 1959; he took power as Guide of the Revolution in 1969, convened a historical pan African summit bringing together more than forty Heads of State to Libya where the idea of changing the name of the Organisation of African Unity to an African Union was discussed on 9/9/99 and in 2009 he has become the Chairman of the African Union Commission.  One of his first battles together with Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal in the just ended African Union Summit in Addis Ababa was to change the name of the African Union Commission to the African Union Authority and the name of the Commissioners to American-style Secretaries of State.   We still need to see what is in a name and in a number.

Between a State-centric and a Citizen-led PanAfricanism: A Conflict of Ownership

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

25th May 2008 would have marked 45 years of state-centric PanAfricanism within the continent.

The historiography of PanAfricanism has been one of dialectically opposing ideologies and procedural battles on the methodology and ownership of its dividends.

The Diasporan divergence on PanAfricanism from 1900-1945  epitomized by W.E.B Dubois’ integrative approach of African citizenship  contrasted to Marcus Garvey’s exclusionist “Back to Africa “ declaration.

2007: A Year Of Heroism And Martyrdom In Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Heroism is the ability to triumph over adversity. Its kernel is fuelled by defiance and fired by a steel will.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

The African Woman

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Today, October 15, 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the death of the pan African icon and the maverick leader of Burkina Faso, Captain Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara.

In one of his fiery oratories addressed to the Burkinabe women during the International Day of the Woman on March 8, 1987,Captain Sankara said "the genuine emancipation of women is that which entrusts responsibilities to them and involves them in productive activity and in the different struggles the people face".

As the world pays lip service today, October 15, to the rural woman by commemorating what has been pompously called the International Day of the Rural Woman, it behoves Africa to speak to the interwoven tapestry that binds the African woman to her bondaged society.

The United States of Africa is A Matter of Urgency - Mwalimu George Ngwane

Originally published in Panafrican Visions magazine

The idea of a United States of Africa has been floating around for over fifty years today. When the great visionary Kwame Nkrumah militated so strongly for it, some of his peers rated him over ambitious with an unbridled appetite to exert control on the entire continent. That the idea is still a subject of strong debate today is a sign that Nkrumah was just a man out of the ordinary with a vision far above the comprehension of many in his generation and even subsequent ones. The last African Union Summit in Accra Ghana ignited the debate in full force although?? to many the out come fell short of expectations.

Analyst Suspects Kadhafi Phobia in AU Summit Outcome

By James Butty (VOA)
 
Listen to Butty interview with Ngwane (MP3) 

The Ninth Ordinary Summit of the African Union is in the history books following its conclusion in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.  But some Africans are still feeling betrayed over the leaders’ failure to form a United States of Africa. 
 
In their final communiqué African leaders agreed to speed up the economic and political integration of the continent to pursue the goal of a United States of Africa.

The Cost of Non-integration In Africa

The Post Newspaper (Friday June 29, 2007)

Between June 18 and 20, 2007, some 36 researchers, activists and civil society actors from across Africa attended a conference on the theme "The Cost of Non-integration In Africa" in Marrakech, Morocco. Amongst the participants was writer, Pan-Africanist and Executive Director of AFRICAphonie, Mwalimu George Ngwane. On his return, The Post's Nana Walter Wilson accosted him. Ngwane, as usual, had a heap to say. First, he said African integration had hitherto been a state-driven project until recently.

An Open letter to President Paul Biya

By Mwalimu George Ngwane (Originally published in Eden Newspaper, Wednesday, June 27, 2007)

Subject: Personal participation at the African Union summit in Accra,Ghana

Your Excellency,
From 1-3 July 2007, Ghana shall become the capital of Africa.  As host of the 9th Ordinary session of the historic African Union summit, Ghana is expected to beat past records in terms of attendance by Heads of state in the history of the pan African organization summits.  The stake is the Grand debate on the Union Government that should lead to the creation of the United States of Africa.  Every country is therefore looking forward to the participation of their Head of state. So is Cameroon.