On 25 May 1963, Africa made history with the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) the precursor to the African Union (AU). This year’s Africa Month is celebrated under the theme “The year of Arts, Culture and Heritage: in the year of Charlotte Maxeke”. 

Africa Day is intended to celebrate the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 25 1963. The OAU’s main objectives were amongst others to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid, to promote unity and solidarity amongst the African States and to promote international cooperation. In 2002 the African Union (AU) was launched following a decision by the OAU to create a new continental organisation as there was a need to refocus attention from the fight for decolonisation and ridding the continent of apartheid towards increased cooperation and integration of African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development.

Commenting on todays celebration parliaments Presiding Officers said:  “Parliament today pays homage to all the founding forebears of the African Union (AU) who spared no effort, and sacrificed lives and livelihoods to attain the liberation and freedom we now enjoy across Mother Africa.” As we celebrate this day, we are acutely conscious of the ideals our forebears struggled for, which included battle against poverty, inequality, wars and conflicts, and limited share of resources,” said the Presiding Officers 

 They added: “The Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage societies with almost 5 million positive cases recorded and about 127 thousand deaths, while there is only less than 2% of the vaccinated world population in Africa. We have noted with appreciation efforts to mainstream Africa in the world fight against Covid-19, with efforts to break barriers to access to life-saving interventions and vaccines. We expect the vaccination programme to gain the requisite momentum towards the necessary herd immunity that will break the back of the pandemic.”