Southern Africa Freedom Trail

Last updated

The Southern Africa Freedom Trail is a route running through Lusaka, Zambia that leads to a number of historic sites significant to the region's anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles. [1]

Lusaka City in Lusaka Province, Zambian Kwacha

Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. One of the fastest developing cities in southern Africa, Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about 1,279 metres (4,196 ft). As of 2010, the city's population was about 1.7 million, while the urban population is 2.4 million. Lusaka is the centre of both commerce and government in Zambia and connects to the country's four main highways heading north, south, east and west. English is the official language of the city, and Nyanja and Bemba are also common.

For nearly 30 years leaders of nationalist movements from various Southern African countries used Lusaka, Zambia as a base for their respective campaigns. Leaders from South Africa, including Oliver Tambo and future presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma held offices in Lusaka. [2] [3] [4] In addition, insurgents from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique were based out of Lusaka. [5] As a result, Lusaka was the site for numerous significant meetings and policy changes, but it also became the site of raids and assassinations targeting these organisations. The Southern Africa Freedom Trail directs followers to these historic, yet often unmarked, locations.

Oliver Reginald Kaizana (OR) Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991.

Thabo Mbeki South African politician, President of South Africa

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (Xhosa pronunciation: [tʰaɓɔ mbɛːkʼi]; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the second post-Apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. On 20 September 2008, with about nine months left in his second term, Mbeki announced his resignation after being recalled by the National Executive Committee of the ANC, following a conclusion by judge C. R. Nicholson of improper interference in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), including the prosecution of Jacob Zuma for corruption. On 12 January 2009, the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously overturned judge Nicholson's judgment but the resignation stood.

Jacob Zuma 4th President of South Africa

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth President of South Africa from the 2009 general election until his resignation on 14 February 2018. Zuma is also referred to by his initials JZ and his clan name Msholozi.

Some of the locations on the trail include the African National Congress (ANC) Headquarters where Oliver Tambo maintained his office and the African Liberation Centre headed by Edward Nkoloso, who also became well known for his attempt at building a Zambian space program. [6] Other locations include the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, the site where the ANC elected Nelson Mandela as the deputy president of the party, as well as the assassination site of Herbert Chitepo, leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union, [7] and the attempted assassination site of Joshua Nkomo, leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union. [8]

African National Congress political party in South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC) is the Republic of South Africa's governing political party. It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa since the election of Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election, winning every election since then. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent President of South Africa, has served as leader of the ANC since 18 December 2017.

Edward Festus Mukuka Nkoloso was a member of the Zambian resistance movement and the founder of the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy.

Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union until he was assassinated on March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former British SAS soldier, Hugh Hind was responsible.

The Southern Africa Freedom Trail was created by the Lusaka Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, in 2014, with Matthew Grollnek and Patience Chisanga leading the project. [9]

World Economic Forum Swiss non-profit foundation

The World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in 1971 as a not-for-profit organization. It was granted "other international body" status in January 2015 by the Swiss Federal Government under the Swiss Host-State Act. The WEF's mission is cited as "committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas".

Related Research Articles

Freedom Front Plus political party in South Africa

The Freedom Front Plus is a national South African political party that was formed in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include amending affirmative action and land reform to protect the interests of Afrikaners.

Baleka Mbete South African politician

Baleka Mbete is a South African politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2014 to May 2019. She was previously Speaker of the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, and Deputy President of South Africa from 2008 to 2009 under Kgalema Motlanthe. She was elected National Chairperson of the African National Congress in 2007 and re-elected in 2012 and served until 18 December 2017. On the 18th of December 2017, during the ANC's 54th conference, Gwede Mantashe was elected Mbete's successor as National Chairperson of the ANC.

Frene Noshir Ginwala is a South African journalist and politician who was the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from 1994 to 2004. Ginwala is an Indian South African from the Parsi-Indian community of western India. She studied for a DPhil at Linacre College, Oxford.

African National Congress Youth League political youth organization

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress. As set out in its constitution the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC).

Naledi Pandor South African politician

≈

Kgalema Motlanthe President of South Africa, Deputy President of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and Secretary-General of the African National Congress

Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki.

History of South Africa (1994–present)

South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.

The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Polokwane, Limpopo from 16 December – 20 December 2007. It elected Jacob Zuma and supporters to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), representing a significant defeat for Thabo Mbeki, then the party's incumbent president and president of the country.

The African National Congress (ANC) is the current governing

Congress of the People (South African political party) political party from South Africa

The Congress of the People (COPE) is a South African political party formed in 2008 by former members of the African National Congress (ANC). The party was founded by former ANC members Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George to contest the 2009 general election. The party was announced following a national convention held in Sandton on 1 November 2008, and was founded at a congress held in Bloemfontein on 16 December 2008. The name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC and other parties, a name strongly contested by the ANC in a legal move dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.

Vusumzi "Vusi" Pikoli is a South African advocate and the former head of South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority. He is noted for instigating criminal charges against disgraced South African police commissioner Jackie Selebi and ANC president Jacob Zuma. In 2008 he was suspended from his duties by President Thabo Mbeki, a close confidant of Selebi, and then subsequently fired by Mbeki's successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, who is an ally of Zuma. As such, opposition parties and sections of the press have claimed Pikoli is the victim of two separate political conspiracies. In October 2014 Pikoli was appointed as the Western Cape's first police ombudsman by Premier Helen Zille, whose choice was unanimously backed by the provincial legislature's standing committee on community safety.

South Africa–Zimbabwe relations Diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Zimbabwe

South Africa–Zimbabwe relations have been generally cordial since the end of apartheid in South Africa, although there have been tensions due to political troubles in Zimbabwe in recent years.

53rd National Conference of the African National Congress

The 53rd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Mangaung, Free State in December 2012. It re-elected Jacob Zuma and supporters to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), substantially defeating an opposing group that had coalesced around challenger Kgalema Motlanthe.

Adams College

Adams College is a historic Christian mission school in South Africa, associated with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). It was founded in 1853 at Amanzimtoti a settlement just over 20 miles (32 km) south of Durban by an American missionary. The settlement there is known as Adams Mission. The college's alumni include Presidents of Botswana and Uganda, several ministers and leaders of the African National Congress. It is recognised as a historic school. It has been called Adams School, Amanzimtoti Institute and the Amanzimtoti Zulu Training School.

Zanele Dlamini Mbeki is a feminist South African social worker, founder of Women's Development Bank. She is also a former first lady of South Africa.

Lindiwe Mabuza is a South African politician, diplomat, poet, academic, journalist, and cultural activist. She was an anti-Apartheid activist who went on to serve her country as a Member of the first democratically elected parliament of South Africa. She then proceeded to serve as a distinguished diplomat. She serves on the Advisory Board of Elders of the Ifa Lethu Foundation, a foundation that repatriates South African artworks. She is also a patron of Dramatic Need, a UK-based charity that promotes creative arts for children. She is also an advisory Council Member of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. She has also served as the Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund UK.

References

  1. ↑ Justinah Mukuka (25 October 2014). "Lusaka youth network launches Freedom Trail". The Post. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Oliver Tambo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Thabo Mbeki Timeline 1942-". South African History Online. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma". African National Congress. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Hugh Macmillan (1 October 2013). The Lusaka Years: The ANC in exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994. Jacana Media. pp. 68–. ISBN   978-1-4314-0821-4.
  6. ↑ Miriam Kramer (9 October 2013). "Meet 'The Afronauts': Artist Recalls Zambia's Forgotten Space Program". Space.com. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Ranger, Terence (2003). "Herbert Chitepo: Assassination, Confession and Narrative". Journal of Southern African Studies. 29 (4): 999–1002. JSTOR   3557400.
  8. ↑ "Rhodesia attacks". South Africa History Archive. ZAPU. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Lusaka: Southern Africa Freedom Trail". Global Shapers. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.