Ramaphosa: Africa still paying price for Global North’s prosperity
President Cyril Ramaphosa says Africa is still paying the price for the rapid industrial development of the so-called Global North.
Ramaphosa spoke on the final day of the Liberation Movement Summit in Johannesburg on Sunday.
The summit was attended by different party leaders and their representatives across Africa to outline shared commitments and issues affecting the continent.
Ramaphosa said although Africa is not responsible for global warming, it is the most vulnerable to its impact.
He said European countries developed at the back of Africa’s human capital, natural resources, and cultural destruction.
“Our people were enslaved and subjugated, our land was occupied, and our resources were stolen. Today Africa is paying the environmental price for the prosperity of others,” said Ramaphosa.
“The price has been centuries of extraction, exploitation, and underdevelopment, whose effects are still felt until today.”
He urged sustainable and innovative ways to overcome the current challenges faced by the continent.
“The question we must answer is whether our liberation movements are able to provide the leadership for the world of today and tomorrow. The answer must lie in our ability to transform our movement, our government, our economies, our society, and our conscience.”
At the same time, Ramaphosa call on the continent’s leaders to keep their houses clean, warning that corruption and patronage are leading to the destruction of the continent.
“We must acknowledge that for many of us, corruption and patronage have contributed to the various degrees of the destruction of our social fabric, to the weakening of the state, and to the disunity of our movements.”
He said the fights for public positions has undermined the ability to respond to the needs of people.
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