The Premier of Gauteng, Mr David Makhura,
The Mayor of Tshwane Metropolitan Council, Councillor Kgosientso
Ramokgopa,
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma,
Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs, Mayors, Councillors,
The leadership of the ANC and Alliance partners,
Traditional and religious leaders,
Leaders from the business, sport, women¹s, youth and children¹s
organisations,
Ambassadors and High Commissioners,
Leadership of Organisations representing foreign and African nationals
residing in our country,
Umphakathi wase-Mamelodi ne Tshwane yonke,
Fellow South Africans,

Sanibonani, dumelang, good day.

Siyajabula kakhulu ukuba nani mphakathi waseTshwane njengoba sigubha
usuku olubalulekile lokwakhiwa kwenhlangano yobumbano lwama-Afrika ngo
1963.

Lolusuku lwaziwa njengosuku lwe-Afrika.
We are delighted to join you to celebrate Africa Day.
On 5 April 1906, Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, one of the founding fathers
of Africa¹s oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress
(ANC) published a seminal essay on the  Regeneration of Africa.
He proclaimed African unity, peace and progress that early in our history.
³The African people, although not a strictly homogeneous race, possess
a common fundamental sentiment which is everywhere manifest,
crystallizing itself into one common controlling idea.
³Conflicts and strife are rapidly disappearing before the fusing force
of this enlightened perception of the true inter-tribal relation,
which relation should subsist among a people with a common destiny¹¹.

Dr Seme¹s call for the restoration of the continent¹s glory was
realised on 25 May 1963, when leaders of 32 African nations converged
on EthiopiaŒs capital Addis Ababa and formed the Organization of
African Unity, the OAU.

Another significant development connected to this date was the
formation of the African Union (AU) on 25 May 2001. The AU was
subsequently launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa.

Today we are gathered to celebrate that historic moment when Africa
came together in the OAU to confront as a collective, the challenges
facing the continent then.

The core objectives of the OAU included the promotion of unity and
solidarity of the African states and acting as a collective voice for
the African continent.

The OAU also sought to co-ordinate and intensify the co-operation of
African states in order to achieve a better life for the people of
Africa, and to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
independence of African states.

The OAU was also dedicated to the eradication of all forms of
colonialism and white minority rule since there were several African
states that had not yet gained their independence.

As such, our liberation struggle against apartheid received
unequivocal support from the member states of the OAU.

The illustrious leaders of our continent understood well that the
entire continent had to be liberated and did not look at their own
territorial boundaries only.

This was stated boldly by President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who stated
at the dawn of the independence of Ghana that; ³Our independence is
meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of
Africa¹¹.

The OAU Liberation Committee worked tirelessly to take this vision
forward, under the capable leadership of its executive secretary,
Brigadier General Hashim Mbita of Tanzania, an icon of the liberation
struggles of Southern Africa.

Gen Mbita served as Executive Secretary of the OAU Liberation
Committee for 20 years, providing much needed support to the
liberation movements of Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and
South Africa.

Even after retirement after South Africa¹s liberation, Gen Mbita
continued to work for Africa.

We worked with him on the peace process in Burundi, as he did not want
to see his hard work come to waste. Gen Mbita sadly passed on last
month. South Africa will bestow upon Gen Mbita posthumously at a
ceremony later this year, the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo, for
his contribution to our struggle for liberation, and that of other
sister African countries.

We extend our deepest condolences to his family and to the Tanzanian
people.
Africa Day is about recalling such selfless solidarity and friendship
that we received from the African continent during our struggle for
liberation.

We also at the same time celebrate the solidarity and friendship
provided by South Africans in many townships and villages to African
nationals who came to settle in our country in search of opportunities
even at the height of apartheid colonialism.

South Africa has for decades been home to many nationals of
Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia,
Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Algeria, Uganda, Kenya and others. We
are happy to be joined by nationals from these countries at this
celebration.

We became one people, and shall remain one people, living together in
peace and friendship at all times.

South Africa joined the OAU on 23 May 1994, after the attainment of
our liberation.
It is in this context that Africa Day holds a special meaning to South
Africa in particular and our Continent in general.

Africa Day 2015 is thus a celebration of 21 years since our
reintegration into the international community and into the African
continent in particular.

It is also a celebration of the strides that Africa has made since the
establishment of the OAU in advancing peace and stability, democracy
and sustainable development.

We are proud of our modest contribution to the success of the
continent through involvement in peacemaking, peacekeeping as well as
reconstruction and development, working within the ambit of the
African Union with other sister countries.

We continue to work together as Africans to find solutions in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Mali, Sudan, the Central
African Republic and other parts of the continent facing challenges
such as Burundi in recent weeks.

Today we also celebrate the advancement of the continent economically,
although there is still a long way to go.

Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. We have a
sound socio-economic development plan in the form of the New
Partnership for Africa¹s Development, NEPAD.  We have clear programmes
to advance infrastructure development, industrialisation and
advancement in agriculture, health and other social programmes.

The challenge is to make the growth inclusive and for it to translate
into an improved quality of life for the one billion Africans who
inhabit our continent.

We should therefore continue working in unity, to make Africa a
continent of hope for the youth and future generations.

As South Africans we are proud of our African identity. We are proud
to be part of a continent that is growing, that has a bright future.

On this 21st year of being part of the AU, we must begin a new chapter
and formalise the promotion of the AU and our African identity in
every aspect of life.
Starting today, every school, church or community choir and
individuals, must practice the African Union anthem so that we can
sing at all our important gatherings and celebrations.

We urge South African institutions and companies to begin flying the
African Union flag together with the South African flag.

Government has organised a colourful Africa Month programme taking
place in various areas to celebrate our songs, dance, books, poetry,
fashion, food and everything that is African about our country and
culture.

That is part of celebrating and reclaiming the African identity of our
country and people, which had been suppressed by the racist minority
regime of the apartheid era.

Sigubha ubu-Afrika bethu kulenyanga ngoba ngesikhathi sobandlululo
amasiko ethu ayebukelwa phansi.

Njengabantu base-Ningizimu Afrika, ikakhulukazi abamnyama, sithi
masigubhe usuku nenyanga yobu-Afrika ngokuqhakambisa ubu-Afrika bethu,
amagugu, amaculo, amasiko, izilwimi nakho konke okusenza sibe
ama-Afrika esiziqhenya ngakho.

Fellow Africans,

We have the honour of hosting the 25th Summit of the African Union in
our country next month.

The theme of the summit is: ³The Year of Women¹s Empowerment and
Development towards Africa¹s Agenda 2063².

We must use this occasion to learn more about the AU, its structures,
programmes and about our continent in general.

We need to understand our own country¹s contribution to the work of
the AU in building a better Africa and in contributing to building a
better world.

On Africa Day in 2013, the African continent committed the AU to the
fifty-year vision called Agenda 2063.  This innovative plan outlines
the vision of building effective institutions, enhancing
accountability, strengthening solidarity and integration, gender
equality and peace and security.

It also talks about the reform of institutions of global governance,
such as the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Monetary
Fund.

We look forward to the discussions of this Plan and other issues at
the Summit, to take the continent forward to sustainable development
and socio-economic emancipation.

It is our expectation that this important AU Summit will also serve as
the platform for African leaders to deliberate decisively on the
reform of the United Nations and other institutions of global
governance.

This is made urgent by the fact that we are celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the formation of the United Nations.

Earlier next month, on 3-5 June, we will also host the World Economic
Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town. Political and business leaders
from all over the world will get together to discuss Africa¹s future
and growth prospects. We look forward to a successful WEF meeting as
well.

We are honoured to host both major meetings that will discuss the
future of our beautiful continent.

Fellow Africans and friends,

Africa Day is a celebration of African progress. We have a lot to
celebrate and we have a lot to look forward to. It is also a day to
reflect on challenges that still remain.

Africa Day is a celebration of African unity and a reminder that we
should never lose sight of that noble goal of the founding leaders of
the OAU.

Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Oliver Tambo, Agostinho Neto, Samora
Machel and all revolutionaries and pan-Africanists who fought for the
decolonisation and liberation of our continent taught us to be one
people.

We are one people and have always been one people.

In unity we shall find progress.

Let me borrow from the words of Pixley ka Isaka Seme in the 1906 essay
on the Regeneration of Africa:

³The brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her
chains dissolved, her desert plains red with harvest, her Abyssinia
and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the
glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and
universities.

³Her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce, her crowded cities
sending forth the hum of business, and all her sons employed in
advancing the victories of peace, greater and more abiding than the
spoils of war¹¹.

This is the type of success we shall achieve, through unity.

Let us continue to embrace the vision of a united, prosperous, and
peaceful Africa, a better Africa in a better world.

I wish you all a Happy Africa Day today and every other day!

Ngiyabonga!

Kea leboha!

Asante Sana!