Mayibuye iAfrika: The liberation slogan that still echoes in South Africa's democracy
Image: Pixabay
The powerful rallying cry, Mayibuye iAfrika, meaning 'Let Africa Return', remains one of the most iconic slogans in the history of South Africa's liberation struggle.
It is in parlance once more after the former Secretary General of the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (MK Party), Floyd Shivambu, alluded to his potential new political party, named after the powerful catchphrase.
"On Friday, June 27, we will announce the National Consultation Team (NCT) of Mayibuye Consultation Process. As always, we will use the opportunity to exercise what Amilcar Cabral taught us that as revolutionaries, we should, 'Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories. Tell no lies. Claim No easy victories.' Mayibuye iAfrika," Shivambu recently said.
Origin
Used extensively during the anti-apartheid era, the Mayibuye iAfrika captured the yearning for African self-determination, the reclamation of land and dignity, and the rejection of colonial and apartheid rule.
Mayibuye iAfrika is widely believed to have originated within the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) in the early 20th century. Its roots stretch deeper into the broader pan-Africanist and black consciousness philosophies that began emerging across the continent and diaspora during the colonial period.
The slogan became an official part of the ANC's vocabulary in the 1940s and 1950s, particularly during mass protests, strikes and campaigns such as the Defiance Campaign of 1952.
It was often paired with 'Amandla!' (power), to which crowds would respond, 'Ngawethu!' (to us).
Historian Pitika Ntuli believes that Shivambu is using the slogan to call out the ANC's failures.
"He is reclaiming this liberation cry. By invoking this historic slogan, Shivambu challenges the ANC on its unfulfilled promises and signals continuity with the anti-colonial dream. He also calls for a new ownership of Africa by Africans," Ntuli said.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Political and cultural usage
The phrase was not limited to political rallies. It found its way into poetry, music, theatre and speeches both within and outside of South Africa. It became a greeting, a chant and a closing statement in political gatherings. In exile, Mayibuye iAfrika resonated in the camps of Umkhonto weSizwe and among international solidarity movements.
Former ANC President Oliver Tambo was among the many leaders who regularly invoked the phrase in his speeches abroad. In 1987, during a rally in Zambia, he said: "When we say Mayibuye iAfrika, we are calling for the return of everything that was stolen: our land, our freedom, our humanity."
The poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho, the first black woman poet to be published in South Africa, echoed this sentiment in her early 20th-century writings.
In one of her isiXhosa verses, she wrote: "Mayibuye iAfrika. Sithi makubuye uhlanga loMthonyama." (Let Africa return. Let the black nation reclaim its pride.)
In democratic South Africa, Mayibuye iAfrika retains symbolic weight. Before Shivambu's renaissance, it was no longer used as frequently in political discourse, but is still chanted during heritage events, protest marches and cultural commemorations.
IOL Politics Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
3 hours ago
- The South African
Incoming acting police minister blasts 'corruption in ANC'
Professor Firoz Cachalia , the incoming acting Minister of Police, has strongly criticised corruption within the ANC, calling it 'an enormous source of shame.' In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Kachalia said his political loyalties will not stop him from tackling wrongdoing. He pledged to act even if it involves members of his own party. 'My ANC conscience requires that I tackle these challenges with principles and a clear commitment to the country's democratic institutions,' he said. 'Corruption in the ANC is an enormous source of shame to me and to many of us.' Kachalia said he accepted President Cyril Ramaphosa's offer 'without a second's hesitation,' describing the role as an extension of his lifelong work in defending South Africa's democracy. The presidency announced the appointment will take effect from 1 August, after his academic term at the University of the Witwatersrand ends. The appointment has drawn political fire. The Economic Freedom Fighters and the MK Party claim the move violates Section 98 of the Constitution. They argue the president cannot assign ministerial functions to someone outside Cabinet. Kachalia defended the decision, noting that the president can appoint two ministers who are not Members of Parliament. 'These are political and ethical questions, not legal ones,' he said. 'The president had to act.' Asked about his approach to cleaning up the police ministry amid allegations of political interference and criminal infiltration. Kachalia said he would start by consulting senior police leadership and listening to their views. He also welcomed the formation of a judicial commission of inquiry, calling it a valuable fact-finding tool that will assist his office. 'The process that I need to follow is quite clear,' he said. 'I'm going to have the benefit of an objective, reliable process conducted by experienced judges.' Kachalia also chairs the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which recently submitted a midterm and closeout report to the presidency. The reports highlight deep structural failures in SAPS crime intelligence and recommend urgent reforms, including the creation of a new anti-corruption agency. While the presidency has not yet made the report public or acted on its proposals, Kachalia said he now has an opportunity to bring those ideas into the Ministry of Police. He admitted the processing of the report 'has taken too long' and emphasised the urgency of implementing reforms. Kachalia will perform his duties in full for as long as the president retains him, despite the post being described as 'acting.' 'Once I'm sworn in, I'm the Minister of Police until the president says otherwise,' he said. 'And if he allows me to continue, I will.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Can SA forge a new consensus at G20 summit?
For the second time this year, the world's most powerful finance ministers have gathered in South Africa, this time at the lush resort of Zimbali north of Durban. But one minister will once again be conspicuous by his absence: that from the US. Scott Bessent, the mercurial US Treasury Secretary, has once again skipped the G20, choosing instead to send Michael Kaplan, the acting undersecretary for international affairs at the US Treasury. It all started when Secretary of State Marco Rubio refused to participate due to the host's vision of this year's G20 presidency being about 'Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability' — principles the current US administration theatrically rejects. In one sense, the timing of this South African presidency of the G20 could not be worse. Faced with the anti-globalist, protectionist bent of the US, what is usually a processional opportunity for showcasing a nation's soft power and producing vacuous missives about global cooperation has become a near impossible job of managing diplomatic fallout. As the first country from Africa to host the G20, South Africa had hoped to push issues vital for the very developing nations that stand to lose the most from the US president's trade war. With US aid budgets cut to virtual non-existence, and with tariffs about to decimate the export industries that, until now, had been the only hope for small African developing countries to build some semblance of a manufacturing sector, South Africa now finds itself managing the wreckage of international consensus. The G20 is a relatively new arrival to the international global system of forums and talk shops. Established as a response to the global financial crisis in 2008, the whole point was for countries like the US, the UK and the EU to include the faster growing nations of the Global South, which were becoming increasingly critical to the global economy. That promise now looks increasingly hollow. US vs the world: SA salvages G20 How naïve and quaint that looks, from the perspective of the realpolitik of 2025. In addition to Trump's threat of crippling levies on key trading partners from 1 August 2025, the US president has taken aim at the BRICS bloc of emerging economies — which includes host nation South Africa — threatening an extra 10% tariff for 'anti-American' policies. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, following the BRICS summit in Rio last week, was the first of the group to hit back. 'The president of the US must recognise that multiple centres of power now define the global landscape,' he said. Ramaphosa is still trying to convince Trump to attend a G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg in November, where he is due to hand over the presidency of the group to the US. But hopes that Trump will support any of South Africa's G20 initiatives have largely been extinguished. Under fire from corruption scandals at home, Ramaphosa's efforts are increasingly looking to be in vain. The G20 international outreach also follows a highly publicised Oval Office dressing-down, where Trump repeated false claims about a so-called genocide against white South African farmers. Still, despite Washington's aggressions, South Africa has no option but to press ahead with this week's meetings, which culminate on Thursday and Friday with sessions led by finance ministers and central bank governors. South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will, at least, be in the limelight as opposed to the embattled president. The EU is now in the firing line It is not only developing countries that have been targeted by Trump. On Saturday, the EU received a typically condescending letter from Trump, threatening blanket tariffs on European goods. In a message that appeared to be copied and pasted from the one sent to South Africa and countless other recipients, Trump invited the EU to 'participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, the Number One Market in the World', while warning of sweeping new levies. His parting line, as ever: 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' The proposed 30% tariff rate, together with existing sectoral duties and an expected levy on critical goods, would take the increase in the US effective tariff rate on the EU to a brutal 26%. According to estimates from Goldman Sachs, if implemented and sustained, it would lower euro area GDP by 1.2% by the end of 2026. The US is the largest trade partner of the EU, with the sum of exports from the EU totalling $815-billion in 2024. The EU understands that such a trade restriction with its biggest partner is nothing short of an existential challenge. In response, the bloc is actively seeking to diversify its trade ties. Besides Canada and Japan, the bloc is now fast-tracking agreements with India and other Asia-Pacific nations. Speaking from Beijing, EU competition chief Teresa Ribera confirmed that discussions with India are expected to conclude by year's end. 'We need to explore how far, how deep we can go in the Pacific area with other countries.' Africa will undoubtedly be next. Can South Africa lead a G19 without the US? Where the tariff war ends is anyone's guess. But with the US — the architect of the post-war global order — now acting as a destabilising force, the need for alternative alliances and renewed multilateralism between other parties has never been clearer. Already, the US absence has drawn others closer. After Rubio's withdrawal, the EU publicly endorsed South Africa's G20 agenda. Within weeks, the EU and South Africa held their first summit since 2018, marking a thaw in previously strained relations. Strangely then this year's G20 could prove to be its most consequential since its inception. Will it become the moment when the rest of the world reaffirms a commitment to open markets, trade and mutually beneficial cooperation? Or will it cement the beginning of the end for the rules-based global economy? In that sense therefore the timing of South Africa's G20 presidency could not be better. As a nation that once symbolised the post-Cold War liberal ideals of inclusion and equality, it is perhaps fitting that it should fall to us to rally the Global South and like-minded powers toward a new consensus. But the challenge is enormous. Can Ramaphosa — wounded politically and isolated diplomatically — rise to the occasion? Can South Africa lead a meaningful G19 in the absence of the US? To quote Tennyson's Ulysses, while 'death closes all, some work of noble note may yet be done'. The South African president may identify with the itinerant Greek after his own interminable political odyssey. Given his patchy track record in office, the answer may not be encouraging. And yet, history never asks whether leaders are ready. It simply presents the moment. Ramaphosa now faces his. DM
Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Road ahead is steep but not insurmountable– SA's G20 can still deliver for debt and development
The global economy has slowed and become less supportive of developing countries. African countries may be forced to resort to international capital markets to fill the gap in their development financing needs. It is crunch time for South Africa to begin delivering on its ambitious G20 development finance agenda. The third of the four meetings this year of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors takes place on 17 and 18 July. A communiqué is expected to be issued, focusing on the development finance issues that South Africa prioritised at the beginning of its G20 presidency. The agenda includes politically and economically complicated topics such as sovereign debt and the cost of capital and climate finance, which are issues that are high on the global policy agenda. At the recent African Union Conference on Debt held in Togo in May, African leaders, among other matters, called for the reform of the G20 common framework and for a 'new debt doctrine'. The Compromiso de Sevilla, the outcome document from the recently concluded UN-sponsored Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), also acknowledged the need for a more development-oriented debt architecture. Unfortunately, the international economic environment in which South Africa needs to deliver on this agenda has become significantly more complex and challenging. The global economy has slowed and become less supportive of developing countries. The World Bank recently reduced its estimate of global growth from about 2.8% to 2.3% and forecast that average global growth in the first seven years of the 2020s would be the slowest of any decade since the 1960s. Its chief economist declared that ' outside of Asia, the developing world is becoming a development-free zone '. Some G20 participating states have become less supportive of developing countries. For example, the US and the UK, among other countries, have significantly cut their official development assistance, with the US going as far as eliminating USAid, its main aid agency. US President Donald Trump's administration also pulled out of FfD4 and has given mixed signals on his participation in the G20 summit in November. He has even opposed the theme for South Africa's G20 presidency – Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability. These developments aggravate Africa's development challenges. Currently, Africa has an annual financing gap of around $900-billion to $1.3-trillion for Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. While domestic resources should be the major source of each country's financing for these needs, they are unlikely to be enough in the short to medium term. Unfortunately, the amount of funding from official sources such as donor governments and the multilateral development banks (MDBs) will not be sufficient to plug this hole. Therefore, African countries may be forced to resort to international capital markets to fill the gap in their development financing needs. The financing these markets offer is expensive, involves exchange rate risks and is pro-cyclical. In addition, evidence suggests that African countries are charged much higher interest rates than countries in other regions with comparable credit ratings. The resulting 'African premium' costs African countries $74.5-billion per year in excess interest payments, according to a UNDP report. The reasons for this premium are still up for debate. It has been attributed to credit rating bias, lack of quality data, a lack of sound fiscal and public finance management by African governments, and to the fact that many African countries are new to international markets, having only started issuing international bonds between 2007 and 2020. Meanwhile, as African countries continue to deal with these tough conditions on the international capital markets, efforts to address their existing debt burden remain painfully slow. The current approach to sovereign debt restructuring uses the common framework developed by the G20 to deal with the obligations to all official and commercial creditors of low-income countries. Unfortunately, this framework has failed to deliver adequate outcomes for African countries. South Africa's G20 presidency provides the next opportunity to address this challenge. As South Africa commences the last half of its G20 Presidency, we suggest that it prioritise the following issues on the development finance agenda: South Africa must champion the Borrowers' Forum This forum, promoted in the outcome document from FfD4, would facilitate the exchange of ideas, information and peer learning among sovereign borrowers. If supported by a permanent secretariat, as proposed in the Report of the UNSG's Expert Group on Debt, the forum could become the repository of information about sovereign borrowing and the source of technical support and capacity building for debtor countries. South Africa should advocate for the G20 to actively support the creation of the forum as soon as possible. It should also work with the African Union and African G20 guest countries to take the first actions to operationalise a regional borrowers forum in Africa. Improving sovereign debt architecture South Africa, as co-chair of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR), must use it as a tool to promote the improvement of the sovereign debt architecture. The FfD4 Compromiso calls for the creation of a working group to propose a set of principles for responsible sovereign borrowing and lending that can make sovereign debt transactions and the international debt architecture more effective, efficient and more supportive of optimal development outcomes. The GSDR was established as an informal G20-linked forum, chaired by the G20 presidency, the IMF and the World Bank. It brings together a diverse array of creditors, debtors and other stakeholders to discuss how to make the sovereign debt process work better for all stakeholders. South Africa should convene a meeting of the GSDR to begin discussing the framework for promoting responsible sovereign borrowing and lending, including the planning and management of such transactions and their outcomes. Panel of technical experts South Africa must advocate for the G20 to appoint a panel of technical experts to study the barriers to affordable, adequate and predictable flows of development finance to African sovereigns and make recommendations on what the G20 can do to remedy this situation. This can complement the work of the African Experts Panel, which has a broader mandate of 'exploring and defining strategies that advance Africa's collective developmental interests'. South Africa's G20 presidency should not be the end of this year's advocacy for a new and more developmentally responsible debt architecture. These actions should also be promoted at the World Social Summit and the COP30 in Brazil. DM Daniel D Bradlow is a part-time G20 Senior Fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), where his research focuses on the finance track of the G20 and related Think20 issues.
