JOHANNESBURG - African music sensational, Hugh Masekela The jazz maestro, whose grandfather was from Zimbabwe, told a commemoration of Africa Day hosted by Yeoville Recreation Centre that so I dont think there is need for us to fight as Africans.
He paid tribute to his Zimbabwean grandfather and declared: I married a Ugandan wife we are all Africans.
The apartheid government established a syndrome of hate amongst us South Africans and now we think we are better than other Africans. We fought apartheid from foreign lands and we must appreciate the assistance we got from our fellow Africans. We mustnt fight them but help them when they are in need. SA citizens must know that the apartheid government created this hate as a way of sabotaging foreign migrants who helped us to unseat them, he added.
Masekela emphasised the need for residents to be educated on other African roots as a way of enhancing better understanding of foreign immigrants within the communities.
These borders in Africa today were constructed by the colonisers spearheaded by Otto Von Bismarck in Berlin 1886, where they divided Africa to suit themselves. Previously, before colonisation, we used to respect one another as Africans. People must be educated on that history to avoid future xenophobia problems in our continent. If we all know how other African nations practice their cultures then we are destined for a violence-free society, said the jazz maestro at the
Alos present at the event were Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Councillor Nomaswazi of Yeoville and Thomas-Rene Kitutu, the president of Christians for Peace in Africa.
Post published in: News