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The Africa Day gives Africans the time to celebrate Africa's successes and to reflect on its problems and challenges. One of the most dominant stories of 2015 is the recent xenophobic violence in South Africa.

During this year xenophobic attacks, the United Nations (UN)  expressed  its concern at the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, saying the violence had displaced 5,000 people.

At least six people were killed during the unrest spreading from the eastern port city of Durban to the country's financial hub Johannesburg.

The NUM fully supports the implementation of ‘Operation Fiela’ which is a government initiative designed to deal with xenophobia. The NUM say NO to Xenophobia.

Some of our members came from various African countries and contributed to the South African mining economy. They contributed immensely to the industrialisation of South Africa.The NUM will participate in all programmes designed to educate communities about diversity and the importance of unity of the working class beyond the colonial borders.

"It is still totally unacceptable and inexcusable that immigrants can be attacked for being immigrants in a country which purports to support human rights," said Frans Baleni, the NUM General Secretary.

“The working class and the poor should be united against the common enemy, i.e. oppressive regimes and capitalist exploitation. We cannot wage war against each other. Workers of the world should unite, and therefore we must discourage this malady,” Baleni.

Since independence, Africans have been terribly betrayed. They have been betrayed by the superpowers, who used Africa as a battlefield in the fight for global domination, and sanctioned corruption and tyranny as long as their interests are served. Most of all, they have been betrayed by their own leaders, who have done little but bask in personality cults and fill foreign bank accounts.

"Africa needs a new generation of leaders to turn the tide. A new generation of leaders who will focus on rebuilding Africa post colonization. A new generation of leaders who will invest and build effective and efficient resources exploitation to benefit the African economy and eliminate poverty, unemployment and severe inequalities that are affecting the continent," Baleni said.

But pinning the blame on superpowers and colonialists is no longer the trump card it once was. Africans are now willing to say publicly that Africa has failed and that Africans themselves have to take a share of the blame. Africa continues to make steady economic, social and political progress.  It is time for Africa to invest in education, health and infrastructure to improve its economy.

The challenge is to educate and empower women and children who represent Africa’s future.  If we empower women and children, we help build better, more equal and more prosperous societies. 

African governments must break down the social, economic, environmental and cultural obstacles that women and girls face.  They must intensify efforts to provide Africa’s women with better access to education, work, and health care.

As the NUM, we believe that African governments must do more to end violence against women and children.   Despite an overall decline in the number of conflicts, too many Africans still experience violent conflict.  Women and girls bear the brunt and are frequent targets of sexual violence and abuse.

Issued by NUM