Categories: Politics

Malema’s dream of a united Africa will not happen in our lifetime – analyst

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The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) commission on international relations vowed to monitor the free movement of the African continent and strengthen Pan Africanism.

Reporting resolutions from the international relations commission on the last day of the EFF’s second elective conference, where party President Julius Malema won uncontested, Commissar Thembi Msane said the party would make it a priority to ensure that Africans knew their history and opened borders guided by the founding manifesto of the organisation.

She said they would strengthen the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and ensure that it provided a clear mandate and would monitor if countries were complying in ensuring that African countries were legitimate and ensuring economic growth.

“PAP must enact the legislative policy that will monitor the free movement of from one country to another. We are speaking of one Africa passport,” Msane said

The party said it strived for one Africa, with one currency and one language, to be developed fully and integrated with school curriculums through PAP.

“The EFF must push for the PAP to have the authority ratify which government is legitimate and which one is not. This will give the PAP and the AU the power to refuse the participation of unelected governments and governments that assumed power through violence,” Msane said.

However, political analyst Sibusiso Ndlovu said the EFF must first address the impact of the west in Africa and ensure unity amongst Africans.

“We cannot have one Africa while the continent is still divided on the internal political landscape. Malema is seen as a person who represents the African agenda, while allegations point that he is not such person who will carry such program,” said Ndlovu.

He said Africa needed a clear plan.

“Africa needs a clear road plan… What is more troubling here is that the EFF is not a party in government. However… a government in waiting for such ambition is robust in influencing other political parties in the continent. This needs a clear paper plan that will influence other member states [and] Africa.”

A political analyst at the Xubera institute for research and development, Benedict Xolani Dube, said: “The idea of having a United States of one Africa is not new. It is an idea that has always existed but failed to materialise. So if we are going to have [the] United States of Africa, the issue of sovereignty is going to the [tampered] with and sovereignty goes with the strength of currency, which goes with the positivity of that country’s state of economy. The borderless African countries is impossible, and it will never happen in our lifetime nor in the lifetime of the current leadership of the EFF,” Dube said.

Several African countries, including Namibia and Liberia, already have EFF parties in their regions, and the party said they were planning an elective conference that would see other African countries establishing an EFF guided by one founding manifesto.

In closing the elective conference at Nasrec expo centre, Malema promised to build a school that was owned by the organisation in the next five years.

“We cannot have Oprah Winfrey building a school in our country like we are a charity case, the EFF is going to build a school where you will find all curriculums,” Malema said.

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