Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Unisa launch Africa Day programme in Cape Town
Convened under the theme Rebuilding African Unity in an Age of Fragmentation: Sovereignty, Solidarity, and the Renewal of Institutions, this marks the first time the Foundation’s flagship Africa Day platform will be hosted in Cape Town.
“At a time when fragmentation is being normalised across the world, Africa must insist on sovereignty, solidarity and the renewal of institutions," said Max Boqwana, chief executive officer of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. "The Cape Town programme is our attempt to hold that conversation seriously, across sectors and across generations.”
Programme of events
Thursday, 21 May: Business Breakfast
Hosts: Auda-Nepad, the Foundation, and Unisa
Focus: Marking 25 years of Nepad under the theme Rebuilding Africa’s Development Consensus. Public and private sector leaders will discuss continental delivery across infrastructure, industrialisation, food systems, energy, and digital connectivity.
Friday, 22 May: Academic Colloquium
Hosts: Unisa and South Africa’s National Parliament (held in the National Assembly)
Focus: Theme: Celebrating 30 Years of South Africa’s Constitution in a Rapidly Changing World. A reflection on the country’s constitutional journey and democratic citizenship.
Saturday, 23 May: 16th Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture (flagship event)
Venue: Century City Conference Centre
Focus: The central public moment of the week, addressing how to restore continental solidarity, make sovereignty meaningful, and recover institutional legitimacy to carry the African Renaissance forward.
Monday, 25 May: Youth Dialogues (Africa Day)
Morning session: An unscripted 90-minute town hall dialogue between former president Thabo Mbeki and high school learners at Milnerton High School.
Afternoon session: A post-lecture student town hall at the Unisa Parow Campus, where university students will respond to the week's themes. This session coincides with the 50th anniversary year of the 16 June 1976 uprisings.
Bridging Constitution, economy, and renewal
By leveraging the 25th anniversary of Nepad and the 30th anniversary of South Africa's Constitution, the programme aims to address how regional integration, economic production, and constitutional rule must work together in practice.
"Africa cannot build unity on speeches alone,” Boqwana added. “Unity must be carried by institutions that work, economies that produce, infrastructure that connects, and value chains that retain more of Africa’s wealth on the continent."