3. Tshwane/ Soweto Declaration

This annual conference culminates in the drafting of the Tshwane/Soweto Declaration. Below you will find a copy of the Third Tshwane Declaration, 2013. If you wish to receive a copy of the Fourth Tshwane declaration, 2014, or wish to provide input for the Fifth, newly titled, Soweto Declaration, 2015, please contact Prof Mammo Muchie at: muchieM@tut.ac.za

 

The Third Tshwane Declaration: 21^st May 2013

PREAMBLE

OAU AU Jubilee Year (2013-2014)

Hundreds of delegates from around the world participated in the 3^rd African Conference: 50 Years After: Is Africa Uniting or Perishing? The learned researchers presented sixty papers and deep reflection on where Africa is today and where Africa ought to be going were clearly articulated. Building upon the First and Second Tshwane Declarations, the delegates unanimously declared Africa’s future is bright and Africa must stand up by making all Africans to remain committed to advancing the cause of African liberation, unity and renaissance.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Jubilee Year must declare and work fastidiously towards ensuring that Africa fully enters into a complete post-colonial condition becomes a reality.
2. The African Renaissance must be promoted across the globe heralding the important liberation imagination ending post-coloniality for good.
3. The Jubilee must be an opportunity to provide for Africans coming together and learning to deal with major issues in the world by responding and acting collectively with a single voice reflected in and by agreed policy direction and clarity.
4. The AU must possess clear authority to represent the collective African voice and policy in dealing with and responding to global developments. Without prior AU consent, no outside authority should be permitted to intervene militarily in African affairs. Any African state that uses the military action against African and any other power in the world must first go through the AU and seek the approval of the AU.
5. All AU institutions should be upgraded from their current advisory roles to decision-making and transformative agencies to promote African agency, dignity, freedom and independence.
6. All African states should be humble enough to recognise the AU first, coming before their respective international alliances. One aspect that requires immediate attention is a practical and constructive response to defend Africans who face threats outside of Africa. The AU must possess this ability to defend the rights of all Africans, Diasporas or current citizens, across the world. An insurance scheme to protect African immigrants covering health and pensions primarily should be set up, and the AU actively must insist that Africans be covered.
7. The AU should support the efforts by intellectuals and civil societal organisations to systematize and sustain Pan-African Congresses. The Pan-African Congresses have gone through four phases: from 1900 to 1945 was the first Phase: from 1945 to 1963 was the second phase and the third phase is from 1963 to now. The 8^th people centred African Congresses will take place in January 2014.The principle of African unity focuses first and foremost on all citizens, irrespective of their abilities or vocations.
8. The AU must make every effort to create the conditions for sustainable education so that the people of Africa know and own the AU as their very own organisation. This is a process that must continue until the final aims are reached, whilst being fully funded by African citizens.
9. The African Diaspora, both historic and current, must be attracted by creating a Returning Talent Fund and Resources (RTFR) so that all the knowledge that has been lost can be regained. Through such an action the brain drain can therefore be reversed by creating brain gain. The goodwill and sincere efforts by the global friends of Africa which numbers tens of millions should be further incorporated into contributing towards African Unity and Renaissance.
10. There is a need to create a Pan-African Technology Institute (PATI) that will encourage the production of centres of excellence in key areas of African development, finally establishing universities with global brand distinctions. This should be part and parcel of the Pan-African University that the AU is supporting, which ought to be initiated in the Jubilee Year. In this regard the AU can promote research teams that work toward fostering inter-African research networks across all academic fields and universities to ensure active and productive closer collaboration. The AU must create a sustainable African Research and Training Area that combines research, science seminars and policy clusters.
11. A Pan-African science, technology, engineering, mathematics prize with a global distinction similar to the Nobel Fund should be established which must encourage inter-African collaborative networking where the prize is not given to an individual but a group of cross-country researchers or engineers that have collaborated with the utmost merit. The Diaspora learned communities are expected to be active collaborators and partners.
12. The AU must endeavour to ensure the visibility of the historical achievements of Africans in order to inspire generations of Africans to replicate the achievements of their ancestors. African indigenous knowledge systems must be the foundation for building African modernity and not copying that undermines Africa’s achievements.
13. The ‘Africa for Africans’ Movement, that began after the 1776 American War of Independence and was inspired by Ethiopianism the guiding principle of which is the celebration of African similarities by appreciating whatever differences Africans have, can still contribute towards African Unity and Renaissance in the 21^st century. Africa must build social and trust capital alongside stronger human capital in order to manage effectively physical, financial and natural capital. Negative branding which includes corruption and massive resource flight from Africa needs to be urgently addressed.
14. The Pan-African education curriculum on all key subjects must be redesigned and be consistent with the promotion of African Unity and Renaissance. Priority must be given to producing a series of textbooks, printed and electronic resources stemming from primary education to tertiary level. In this case African publishing houses like Real African Publishers that convey the richness of African contribution to world civilization must be produced in various formats and forms of expression. The AU should raise resources like UNESCO did to produce the series on African history on all areas of learning and training to promote African appreciative learning and knowledge consistent with building the African unity and renaissance.
15. The African development agenda must be redesigned so that the African economy is transformed structurally from its current agricultural, mineral commodity based foundation, to an integrated inter-African innovative industrial manufacturing modern sustainable economy. The issue of land-grab is worrying and needs to be halted immediately. Inter-African agricultural development as a foundation for industrial development must be promoted.
16. Integration efforts consist of the four freedoms: labour, goods, services and capital. The AU must get its member states to promote the free movement of Africans and the Diaspora. In the mean time and immediately models of issuing visas to all Africans at the point of entry should be adopted by the AU. Furthermore, infrastructural development linking air, land and sea transports, and communication must be systematically organised and implemented. NEPAD must evolve as the planning agency to guide the process of systematic structural transformation with full authority.
17. Negotiations with multilateral agencies and major trading blocs should be conducted on an all-African collective, rather than on a national or regional basis.
18. There should be global Pan-African networks for broadcasting Pan-African developments including culture, as has been established by other states and international organisations. This broadcasting network should endeavour to quickly achieve global brand recognition.
19. The key challenge of youth unemployment needs to be addressed at the AU level where job creation can be integrated with learning, training, innovation and entrepreneurship. The AU should establish an entrepreneurship and innovation fund for young persons, as well as a research centre that identifies and highlights the contemporary sustainable solutions to employment and training challenges.
20. Recalling the fact that fifty years ago the OAU achieved its self-declared aim of de-colonization, we take over the banner of liberation and continue in our path toward realising fully and tirelessly to see Africa rightfully emerge as its own leader in the 21^st century. AU must promote the Africanness identity above all identities as the best way of expressing the rights and freedoms of the people of Africa with full dignity, confidence, self-reliance and liberation.

The Third Tshwane Declaration from South Africa has been communicated to the African Union by Prof. Mammo Muchie having been invited to attend the OAU Jubilee held between May 24- May 28, 2013. All the African Heads of States presented have received this declaration.

Drafted by a team led by Prof. Mammo Muchie and approved unanimously by all the academics and participants from across the world that attended the Third Scramble for Africa Conference held in Pretoria during 20-21 May 2013.

 

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