Africa Day: Calls for unity and solidarity across continent grow louder
In Johannesburg, civil society groups and unions took to the streets to mark the occasion.
Dozens of organisations, including Cosatu, Lawyers for Human Rights, and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown to Constitution Hill in Braamfontein on Saturday.
The demonstration called for stronger African cooperation and an end to growing xenophobia on the continent.
Africa Day, celebrated annually on 25 May, marks the formation of the organisation of African Unity, later succeeded by the African Union, and the liberation of African nations from colonial rule.
In South Africa, it also serves as a reminder of the country's fight against apartheid.
Mining union leader Mametlwe Sebei says the day is a reminder of how far the continent has come, and how much more must still be done.
"To emphasise the oneness of the continent and its people and that is much more important today than before in the context of a surge in rising populism and xenophobic scapegoating of African migrants and others who have been scapegoated of all the problems faced by the working class as a result of the crisis of capitalism and imperialism."
More commemorative events are expected across the country today.
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