April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

Kulonyaka njengoba bekwenzeka ezingqungqutheleni ezedlule zamaCOP,
imiphakathi izofuna ngodli ukuthi ongxiwankulu bezombusazwe banciphise
ukukhiqizwa kwezisisi ezingclolisa umoya ngamaphesenti angu50 ngonyaka
ka2020 (njengoba kusho ososayensi), kupheze futhi ukudala imisebenzi
ehambisana kokudalwa kwamasu okwenza inzuzo ezimakethe zalesisimo,
bese kukhokhelwa ‘isikweletu sesimo sokushintsha kwezulu’ emazweni
aseNyakatho-naseNingizimu (kanye neNingizimu Afrika) bese kusungulwa
umnotho ozofukulwa ngaphandle kokuba khona kwezisisi ezingcolisa
umoya.
Abagqugquzeli basePitoli, bekanye nabaseWashington, nabaseBrussels
kanye naseBeijing, ngeke bamelane nelesisimo, njengoba sebekhombisile
izikhathi eziningi. Njengoba kwabonakalo ekuphikisaneni kwasekuqaleni,
ugqozi lokulwa nobandlululo kanye nezifundo esizithole silwela
imishanguzo yengculaza ngezinye izikhali ezidingwa imiphakathi, ukuze
sisindise into yasemhlabeni ephilayo kanye nomhlaba uqobo. Izindlela
ezizosetshenziswa njengamanje zidingidwa kakhulu.
(Incwadi elandelayo ebhalwe nguPatrick Bond iThe Politics of Climate
Justice.)
Patrice Lumumba: The rise and assassination of an African patriot
Cameron Duodu First Published in Pambazuka 25 January 2011
Cameron Duodu remembers working as a journalist in Ghana and
documenting Patrice Lumumba’s dramatic rise to power - and subsequent
assassination - from afar. In so doing he uncovers why Lumumba is such an
important historical figure who 'was not assassinated merely as a person,
but as an idea'.
Patrice Lumumba is, next to Nelson Mandela, the iconic figure who most
readily comes to mind when Africa is discussed in relation to its struggle
against imperialism and racism.
Mandela suffered tremendously. But he won.
Lumumba, on the other hand, lost - he lost power, he lost his country, and
in the end, he lost his life. All were forcibly taken from him by a
combination of forces that was probably the most powerful ever deployed
against a single individual in history. Ludo De Witte, in his book, ‘The
Assassination of Patrice Lumumba’, calls Lumumba’s murder ‘the most
important political assassination in the 20th century’.
The amazing thing is that Lumumba had done absolutely nothing against
those who wanted his blood. They just saw him as a threat to their
interests; interests narrowly defined to mean, ‘His country has got
resources. We want them. He might not give them to us. So let us go kill
him.’
I insist, though, that he should not be seen only as a victim of forces too
powerful for him to contend with. On the contrary, he should be seen as
someone who fully recognised the power of the forces ranged against him
and fought valiantly with every ounce of breath in his body and with great
intelligence to try and save his country.
Thus, we can see in the history of the African people’s struggle in the 20th