By
Hakeem Panteli, Pretoria
President
Cyril Ramaphosa is in Tanzania for a 3 days State Visit ahead of the Ordinary
Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government. Remarkable
activity in the visit is Mr. Ramaphosa’s decision to trace the history of many
African government
contribution to the Anti-Apartheid regime in South Africa. Such a history is little known to the current generation of young South Africans.
 |
| Ramaphosa and Magufuli in Dar |
In
his stay in Dar es Salaam, the President will on this Friday travel to an area known as Mazimbu
in Morogoro region, Tanzania; a former South African militant camp that housed freedom fights
from the African National Congress (ANC).
Mazimbu served as a political strategy centre of
sorts for freedom fighters. Some of the top ANC officials who lived there; men
and women went on to lead South Africa.
In memory of the freedom fighters the place has a
Solomon Mahlangu centre, farms, houses and cemeteries of those who died while
strategizing in Tanzania. Thanks to the unwavering and memorable support from
Tanzania’s founding Father of the Nation; Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
The
camp was established after the late South Africa’s Father of the Nation Nelson
Mandela visited Tanzania and held discussions with his counterpart, Mwalimu
Nyerere in 1960’s. The camp became high inhabited by South Africans after 1977.
The Role of Tanzania in Liberation
Struggles
Data
from public domains indicate that the role of Tanzania under Julius Nyerere in
South Africa’s liberation struggle started in 1963 when Mandela sneaked into
Tanganyika without a passport and held discussions with Mwalimu Nyerere about
the struggle against Apartheid.
Following
the discussion, Mwalimu Nyerere decided to allocate pieces of land for the
liberation fighters of South Africa to set up camps for military activities in
the areas of Kongwa ( Dodoma), Mgagao ( Iringa), Mazimbu and Dakawa Morogoro.
Apart
from helping the South Africans freedom fighters securing passports, Tanzania
was forced to brand them with fake names so that they could carry out their
activities without problems.
Tanzania efforts to support freedom fighters did not end in
South Africa. The efforts involved other countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe
and Namibia. The East African country offered itself as a base for those
fighting for liberation, hosting the forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front
(FRELIMO), the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the
Zimbabwean African National Union (ZANU), the Zimbabwean African People’s Union
(ZAPU), and the South West
Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) from Namibia.
Tanzania was also closely involved in several groups and organizations that aided the liberation struggle. Of these, the most well-known
was the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Nyerere of Tanzania was a strong
proponent of the formation of such an organisation, and when it was established
in 1963 Tanzania was a founding member.
The OAU had wider goals alongside freedom from colonialism
and so it was agreed that an organ of the OAU, named the African Liberation
Committee (ALC) would be formed to focus solely on the liberation struggle. Dar
es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, was chosen as the headquarters of the ALC and
housed it for the duration of its existence.
The ALC had several key objectives: the funnelling of
financial aid and material assistance to liberation movements, the promotion of
coordination between liberation movements to unify their forces against the
common enemy, and diplomatic efforts to seek international legitimacy for
liberation movements.
By providing funding, logistical support, training and
publicity, the ALC helped to support and organise the opposition to colonial
rule in Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Tanzania was also a key member of the Frontline States, an
organisation dedicated to overthrowing the apartheid regime in South Africa. By
coordinating their approaches, the Frontline States could exert a greater
influence than could be achieved alone.
Comments
Post a Comment