Rhodes symposium brings Machel’s Pan-African vision into focus – SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader.

Rhodes University says the purpose of its two-day symposium on Mozambique’s founding president and liberation icon, Samora Machel, is to interrogate the contemporary relevance of his principles and what they mean for Africa today.

The principles include social justice, anti-imperialism, education and Pan-African solidarity.

[LISTEN] Rhodes University to host two-day symposium on former Mozambican President Samora Machel to reflect on his legacy and draw lessons for Africa’s future.
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Prominent voices on the programme include humanitarian Graça Machel, civil society leader Mavuso Msimang, anti-apartheid veterans, Ambassador Sikose Mji and Advocate Oyama Mabandla.

The two-day event will take place in Makhanda on Monday and Tuesday.

The University’s Professor Siphokazi Magadla says, “We are not being nostalgic. We are not looking back for the sake of celebrating exceptional individuals. We are saying how do we look forward because the struggles that we face are huge in that the beauty of Machel’s ideas and conviction, he said, political liberation without economic liberation is insufficient. Of course he was a Marxist. Many African countries have experimented with democracy, but we haven’t been so adventurous in thinking about the economic models that suit the kinds of society that we want to build. So many young people say, you know, we have this freedom, but we can’t get jobs. What do we do with that?”