According to Joburg City Council Executive Mayor Parks Tau, the future of Africa, its people and its many cultures which appeal to the world, are in the very hands of those who reside on this continent.
This Tau said when commemorating Africa Day on 25 May. “May all who live, visit or just pass through the city be reminded of the greater success that comes through our collaboration as African people and see value in its continuation,” Tau said.
He said Joburg was home to residents of diverse cultural backgrounds who flocked to the city in huge numbers, up to 10 000 per month, for various opportunities. Tau said this resulted in Joburg becoming a city alive with more opportunities. He added that Joburg is a world-class African city representative of the entire continent.
He said the City has a Migrant Help Desk to help integrate refugees, asylum seekers, illegal migrants and those in distress, often from xenophobia, which he said had no place in a city with a rich history of migration.
The commemoration stems from the founding of the Organisation for African Unity on 25 May 1963. The organisation, now called The African Union, comprises more than 50 member states which collectively resolve challenges of armed conflict, climate change and poverty. Part of its success was the proclamation of the year 2010 as the year of peace and security in Africa.
He urged Joburg citizens to work together to challenge xenophobic-related discrimination and to live in harmony. Drawing from the union’s solid ethos, he urged everyone living on the continent to be proud of it, and to relate well to each other through collaboration and uBuntu.
