Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma urges African Mayors to transform urban spaces
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
During the first full plenary of the U20 African Mayors' Assembly and Sherpa Meeting held on Thursday in Tshwane, former Chairperson of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said we must build cities where young people wish to stay and fix our continent, rather than wanting to leave.
'Together we can build a bright future to reflect the true spirit of the African Renaissance…As African mayors you have the responsibility of creating cities that are economically vibrant, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable," Dlamini-Zuma told the various delegates during her keynote address.
She addressed the gathering on the relevance of African Renaissance in an urban setting and said cities are critical in creating the Africa we want. 'The Africa we have now, is not the one we want,' she said.
She urged the various mayors to commit to building a brighter future for our people and one which reflects the true spirit of the African Renaissance. 'As African mayors you have the unique opportunity to transform our African cities into vibrant hubs,' she said.
Dlamini-Zuma stressed that people working in cities must live in the cities. This will mean that they will have access to proper, safe and affordable public transport, as well as to adequate healthcare and good education.
She further stressed that cities must be safe, especially for women and children. 'I believe in cities that don't sleep. Cities which don't sleep are safer.'
Dlamini-Zuma pointed out that cities must also have proper infrastructure, which includes proper roads and airports.
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 ✕
The infrastructure must be able to connect cities throughout the continent. She said people should be able to drive or take a train to another African country if they so wished.' We need to decolonise minds. If we do not, we remain colonised,' she said.
Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya meanwhile during her opening address told the delegation that they meet not as individuals, but as a collective. 'We are connected by geography, guided by duty, and united in our determination to realise the full potential of our cities.'
She said this is a time when the world is looking to cities for solutions. 'Tshwane, like many African cities, is growing rapidly. We are urbanising at speed, but often without the infrastructure or resources to match. Our challenges are not unique. They reflect a wider African reality,' Moya said.
She pointed out that cities are becoming centres of innovation, climate action, and economic activity.
'They are where the future of Africa is being shaped,' she said, but added that there are still serious challenges ahead.
'Urban 20 gives us a vital megaphone within the G20. It is our opportunity to inject African priorities into global policy, and to ensure that local voices shape global decisions,' Moya said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
How does South Africa's education stack up in the G20?
An empty classroom. Educational challenges remain one of the key talking points that the country has been focusing on as part of its G20 presidency, building on what has come before and helping shape solutions in the process. Image: Courtney Africa/Independent Newspapers (Archives) Educational challenges remain one of the key talking points that the country has been focusing on as part of its G20 presidency, building on what has come before and helping shape solutions in the process. The G20 Education Working Group (EdWG) was established during the Argentinian Presidency in 2018. Subsequent presidencies all incorporated the EdWG as a permanent Working Group of the Sherpa track. Since 2018, several educational challenges have been dealt with by the G20 EdWG, including: strengthening learning outcomes; equitable access; technological tools, digitalisation and digital technologies in education, universal quality education, financing, partnerships for education; international cooperation; skills for life and work; early childhood care and education (ECCE); universal quality education; and a focus on education for sustainable development. The country is hosting the EdWG, cognisant of the fact that South Africa, as part of the troika from 2024 to 2026, will build upon the achievements of India and Brazil to ensure continuity in taking forward the development agenda. 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 ✕ South Africa's three priorities for education are: 'Inclusive Economic Growth, Industrialisation, Employment and Inequality', 'Food Security' and lastly 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Innovation for Sustainable Development'. The country has also embraced the theme 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability' for its G20 presidency. Basic Education Minister, Siviwe Gwarube, has been playing her part to make sure that education stakeholders across the country are being heard by holding a series of indabas across the provinces, which fit into South Africa's education agenda, ahead of a planned national indaba. While at the Western Cape Provincial Education G20 Indaba, Gwarube sat down to not only tackle the topic of South Africa's education priorities, but also how South Africa is faring against the rest of the nations in the G20. 'I think the strategic opportunity for having the G20 presidency is that we are not only pushing our three themes, but we also have an opportunity now to put some of the things that we think are pertinent in education on the global stage. Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. Image: Supplied 'For instance, the mutual recognition of skills would be a massive game-changer for South Africa, because it would mean that South African young people who acquire skills in a particular field can be recognised across the world. If we can get that agreement, amongst the G20 countries, that would be great, especially for young people who've acquired particular qualifications,' Gwarube said. She added that the presidency also allows South Africa to put ECCE on the global stage. 'Many of the G20 countries that are going to be coming here have made the strategic reorientation years ago, where they're focused on the foundations of learning, where they've done the investment, and I think with us and Brazil and India, we're going to be some really powerful voices in the global South that says, 'look, we want to follow suit'.' Gwarube explained that the focus on foundational learning can yield up to 2% GDP growth for a country, fix the literacy crisis, and impact on learners' ability to tackle historically challenging subjects like maths and science. 'We may not be on par with many of the G20 countries that are coming here, but we are certainly having the conversation and saying, it's not that we don't want to be benchmarked against the best of the best; we will continue benchmarking ourselves against the rest of the world.' Universities themselves are having to contend with the impact of technology, where in one instance, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Professor Brandon Collier-Reed, announced that the Senate's Teaching and Learning Committee endorsed the UCT AI in Education Framework in June 2025. Collier-Reed said the endorsement of the framework was a result of UCT moving with the times, as 'artificial intelligence technologies are becoming part of our daily lives'. 'Staff and students are using tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini in innovative and productive ways; while at other times these technologies present significant challenges, requiring us to rethink teaching pedagogies, assessment practices and the fundamentals of what a university experience should be, and what our qualifications should signify in a changing world,' he said. Professor Maniraj Sukdaven from the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria, with attendees at the G20 Interfaith Forum last week. Image: G20 Interfaith Forum / Facebook Professor Maniraj Sukdaven from the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria echoed how technology has impacted education, and said that across the education spectrum, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is leaving its mark. 'It plays a significant role, but it also has cut down research time for students, and there is a downside to that. When AI is used in the instances of education, more specifically in the Master's and PhD programmes, AI is what it is - it is artificial. Simply meaning is that sometimes the citations and referencing don't correspond with what they are saying.
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
New political donation limits raise concerns over increased private interests in the country's politics
Political analysts say the doubling of the limit and threshold for political donations will deepen secrecy in political funding and make it easier for private interests to have an influence on politics. Image: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers The new limit and threshold for political donations, which means political parties can accept more money from donors, could see more influence exerted on government institutions and politicians. Political analysts said although money is needed in politics, the capture of government and politics could broaden and become further entrenched. This was after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation to double the threshold and annual donation limit in the Political Funding Act (PFA). The annual donation threshold to political parties by an individual donor has increased from R15 million to R30m. He has also allowed for donations to political parties below R200,000 to remain undisclosed, up from R100,000. These amounts were set in a government gazette dated August 6. Ramaphosa said he made these decisions in terms of the PFA and was also acting on a resolution adopted by the National Assembly on May 20. 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 ✕ Ad loading Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said although money is necessary in politics, this means more capture of policy, law, political party and politicians, as well as government institutions. Ndlovu said this is because there is already secrecy and influence in the country's politics. 'The secrecy is already there. How many people know the funders of the ANC, DA, EFF, MKP etc. Do voters even care that some of these political parties are funded by the same families and corporations? Private interests are already influencing our politics. The Guptas' influence was too obvious but in most cases such influence is subtle,'' he said. Ndlovu added that it was obvious that private interests corrupted policymakers and lawmakers. 'In short, more money in politics means more policy capture, more law capture, more capturing of individual politicians, political parties and institutions of the state. People want to know who captured and infiltrated institutions of the criminal justice system. If we stretch our imagination, it becomes clear that money has been used to capture political parties,'' he said, adding that this is taking the country back to greater secrecy. 'Even scarier, the accountability of elected representatives is with private interests instead of the public and national interests.' Governance expert and political analyst Sandile Swana supported the sentiments, saying the rich determine who takes the office and increase their wealth. Swana said this was demonstrated by the sealed CR17 files. 'The president we have today was decided by the billionaires and multimillionaires of South Africa. It was decided by the big businesses and white business-class. It was not a decision of the majority because politics are decided by money, meaning that the concentration of wealth determines who will run the country and how it should be governed,'' he said, adding that those taking the office are there to preserve and increase the wealth of the rich. Lobby group My Vote Counts (MVC) said it is awaiting judgment in its case that was heard in the Western Cape in February this year, in which it challenged various aspects of the Act. These included the irrationality of the two limits and the power of the president to have the final say in setting the limits. The group wants political parties and independents to disclose all private donations, regardless of the amount. It also wants both 'natural and juristic persons' to be obliged to disclose donations they have made in excess of the annual threshold, and the annual upper donation limit to be significantly lowered. MVC said while awaiting judgment, it is considering other legal options to address Ramaphosa's action. 'We will also be writing to the President to request that he release the reasons and full record of factors that were considered as he applied his mind to this matter,'' said Joel Bregman, MVC project lead on money in politics. Bregman warned that this will deepen secrecy in political funding and make it easier for private interests to influence 'our' politics and for corruption to occur. The group said R200,000 is an enormous sum of most South Africans and donations of such amounts should be made public knowledge to facilitate scrutiny of parties' relationships with donors and ensure that donors are not receiving anything in return.
The Citizen
an hour ago
- The Citizen
Zuma's African tour to discredit ‘sellout' ANC could lead to trouble
According to the MK party, Zuma will travel to several African countries this year. Weeks after a controversial trip to the Kingdom of Morocco, former President Jacob Zuma has slammed the ANC in a public address in Ghana. On Tuesday, Zuma delivered a guest lecture at the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) in the country's capital. He told students and other guests at the lecture that he left the ANC because it no longer represented the aspirations of indigenous South Africans. 'I disagreed with those I was with, and I was honest, I told them that, you are selling out, you are selling out our ancestors who said let us be free. 'The problem is that our enemies know how to buy people and make them feel that they are wonderful when they are actually killing the nation,' said Zuma.a Zuma rejects the ANC Zuma said the ANC was no longer a party that is 'loved' by the majority of South Africans and has turned into 'something else.' At the same lecture, he encouraged relations between countries from the East and slammed the West for being complicit in the colonisation of Africa. Zuma also challenged the ANC's position on relations between Morocco and the people of Western Sahara. 'Some may disagree, but Africa must not be divided for the convenience of the outsiders,' he said. He spoke of the more than two dozen bilateral agreements signed between the countries and spoke about the need for closer collaboration. Zuma's utterance could cause trouble, diplomatic storms Political analyst Theo Neethling told The Citizen that there is nothing wrong with Zuma going on international trips, but not when his utterances can be interpreted as speaking on behalf of the country. 'Former American presidents do so regularly, and South Africa's own former leaders such as FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki have also done so without controversy. 'The difficulty arises, however, when Zuma positions himself in ways that contradict or interfere with official foreign policy, and when he makes pronouncements that suggest he is speaking on behalf of the South African nation,' said Neethling. However, he said it is clear that he is attempting to discredit the ANC on the continent. 'Zuma appears to be playing a deliberate political game of disruption against the ANC. 'The danger is that he places South Africa's already strained foreign policy in jeopardy, generating confusion and potentially placing President Ramaphosa and the government not only in an awkward diplomatic position but also in embarrassment on the international stage,' he said. ALSO READ: Dirco blasts Zuma for using SA flag for meeting during Morocco visit Advancing the interests of the MK party on the continent Neethling said it is also clear that Zuma is attempting to advance the interests of the MK party in an international arena. 'That may serve his personal and factional agenda, but it is highly problematic when set against the practice of South Africa's foreign policy by government leaders, officials and diplomats,' he addd. In a recent press briefing, Zuma's party said it sees nothing wrong with his association with countries that have strained relations with South Africa. Some of these countries include countries where power was taken forcefully by certain militia groups and have not been recognised as democracies by Pretoria. His visit to Morocco became controversial when the South African flag was flown at the bilateral. But the MK party said there was nothing wrong with the South African flag being flown during the meeting. ALSO READ: 'MK party only true hope for total liberation of SA people,' – Zuma
