South Africa will be playing an active role in the push for reparations to be paid to the counties of the global South in particular Africa for slavery and colonialism.
President Cyril Ramaphosa from as far back as 2021 had raised concern that even after its abolition, victims of slavery remained marginalised in the Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
“Millions of the descendants of Africans who were sold into slavery remain trapped in lives of underdevelopment, disadvantage, discrimination and poverty. SA calls on the UN to put the issue of reparations for victims of the slave trade on its agenda. We support the adoption of special measures, including affirmative action programmes and targeted financial assistance, as restitution to communities whose ancestors were sold into slavery,” said Ramaphosa he said at the time.
Ghana is Africa’s champion on reparations and its president John Mahama recently warned western countries that the issue of compensation for the Transatlantic slave trade could no longer just be ignored and demand accountability in the form of among others reparations.
“The slave trade must be recognized as the greatest crime against humanity. As the African champion on reparations, Ghana intends to introduce a motion to this august body to that effect,” said Mahama boldly,” said president Mahama to the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
With the populations of African countries increasingly younger there’s been lesser tolerance for imperialism with most countries asserting their sovereignty against their former colonisers.
The demands for reparations amid a broader pushback by countries in the global South for a fair and sound multipolar global system instead of continued dominance by the Western countries that are largely responsible for current inequalities across the world.
African countries have over the years intensified resistance against the former colonisers.
Central African Republic and Bolivia were among those who spoke in support of the call for reparations.
“For Africa is not a continent to be assisted, but a continent to be revealed. It expects neither charity nor compassion, but fair and courageous partnerships. The era of Africa’s dependence is over. Africa’s role in the concert of Nations must be respected: sovereignty, not subordination; partnership, not exploitation. It is unacceptable to see poverty worsening in Africa while wealth accumulates in the Northern countries. The time has come for the injustices inflicted upon Africa to be repaired. This is why the Central African Republic supports the pan-African initiative on reparations, as well as the continent’s efforts to establish a respectful and equitable dialogue with its partners,” said Central Africa President Faustin Archange Touadera.
Bolivian President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora called for the establishment of a commission to facilitate accountability for the evils of slavery, apartheid, genocide, and colonialism in the countries of the Global South.
“The United Nations must find a way to ensure that those who plan war and death pay billions of dollars into a reparations fund. I hope that this rostrum, the highest in the international arena, will serve to launch the call for and recognition that colonialism and neocolonialism were and remain a historical mistake, inflicting and continuing to inflict a social wound on the victims, particularly indigenous societies.Today, in the name of building a just future, we must condemn the destructive impact of colonialism, both past and present,” said Bolivian on how the UN should move forward.