We mourn with our South African brothers and sisters who lost 13 of their sons, brothers, uncles, husbands and fathers in this tragedy. Because the continent - and indeed ultimately humanity - is one, we offer our heartfelt condolences and stand with South Africans in this moment of their grief. We know fully well that loss of life, whether by accident or by design, is always hard to bear. However, perhaps not unexpectedly, in the aftermath of this tragedy, there has been much debate within and without SA about the philosophy behind the deployment of the country's troops. Most people have quite rightly asked whether the deployment was not misguided and perhaps even irresponsible. In the course of the debate, murmurs of disapproval for the country's engagement with the rest of the continent - especially in matters as grave as intervention with men and material - have also been heard. A minority but very vocal voice that wants to see SA divorced from any concern of the African continent, let alone play an active role in its affairs, has also been heard.
However, the reality is that the Mother Continent is inherently interlinked. The role of Africans in the South African liberation movement demonstrated the spirit of our forebears that no African will rest easy when a part of the continent is engulfed in strife. In his incisive "I am an African" speech, former SA President and outstanding pan-Africanist, Thabo Mbeki, articulated this understanding in a more articulate fashion. "I am an African. I am born of the peoples of the continent of Africa. The pain of the violent conflict that the peoples of Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, Burundi and Algeria is a pain I also bear. The dismal shame of poverty, suffering and human degradation of my continent is a blight that we share," he said.But aside from Thabo Mbeki's views, nothing should ever lead South Africans into embracing the falsely "Splendid Isolation" of the United States during much of WW II. As the Zimbabwean and Libyan experiences have shown, a regional approach often bears a lasting solution, hence regional powers like South Africa must actually take the lead towards such an end. And though the tenet be laudable that people should do good without an eye on reward, it also holds true that one good turn deserves another. Accordingly, the anti-apartheid struggle having been the world's largest liberation movement in history, South Africa does have an obligation to help find solutions to the continent's problems. Therefore, instead of the parochial approach being trumpeted by the small but loud liberal fringe, SA must remain a major player in the resolution of this continent's problems.
