South African politician, Julius Malema expressed concern about the lack of progress in addressing inter-relations among Africans.
He said this during his speech at the Arise Ghana event on Tuesday, January 23 at the Ghana College for Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.
Known for his controversial views, Mr Malema questioned why Africans continue to recognise physical borders as barriers when there is a strong bond that transcends them.
According to him, “It is only an imagination that was instilled in our heads by our colonial masters. We have to make sure that as a new generation, we do away with this.”
“We never determined these artificial borders. Some people went to sit somewhere and decided to divide us. And they did that with a pen and took away our brains. Because there is no wall, yet we see the wall and fence that does not exist.”
Advocating a shift in mindset, Malema urged Africans to abandon the deep-seated notion of individualism expressed by various countries on the continent and replace it with a profound sense of cohesion with one another.
“Africa must stop behaving like a drunken master who goes through a gate in a yard that doesn’t have a fence. It will never have a fence because we are one thing.
“We marry into each other’s community and families, we go to each other’s activities, we share cultures, and I know for sure that the people of Ghana dance to Amapiano.
“So why would they think that they are not South Africans, and why would South Africans think that they are not Ghanaians?”
The Commander-In-Chief of South Africa’s Economic Fighters Front (EFF) used the dialogue to advance the cause of Pan-Africanism and economic emancipation as countries on the continent struggle to find their footing in a tensely polarised world.