NEWS and FEATURESPage 6 18 June 2010
Julius Nyere AvenueFormerly Warwick Avenue
JULIUS Kambarage Nyerere,the first president ofTanzania, and earlierTanganyika, was a much-admired statesman and pan-Africanist, but history hasbeen less kind in itsjudgement of his domesticpolicies and indigenousbrand of socialism.
Born on April 13, 1922 inButiama, in what was thenTanganyika, Nyerere was theson of the chief of the smallZanaki tribe.
He was 12 before he startedhis formal education. Heattended the TaboraGovernment SecondarySchool. His intelligence wassoon recognised by theRoman Catholic fathers whotaught him. With their help,he trained as a teacher atMakerere University inKampala (Uganda).
On gaining his diploma,Nyerere taught for three yearsbefore receiving agovernment scholarshipwhich allowed him to studyfor a Master of Arts in historyand political economy at theUniversity of Edinburgh.
He was the first Tanzanian
to study at a British universityand only the second to gain adegree outside Africa.
In Edinburgh, partly as aresult of his exposure toFabian thinking, Nyererebegan to develop hisparticular vision ofconnecting socialism withAfrica communal living.
On returning to Tanganyika,Nyerere was forced by thecolonial authorities to choosebetween politics andteaching. He was reported assaying he was a schoolmasterby choice and a politician byaccident.
Working to bring a numberof different nationalistfactions into one grouping, heachieved this in 1954 with theformation of the TanganyikaAfrican National Union.
He became President of the
Union (a post he held until1977) and entered theLegislative Council in 1958.He became Chief Minister in1960.
A year later Tanganyika wasgranted internal self-government and Nyererebecame Premier. Fullindependence came inDecember 1961 and he waselected President in 1962.
IntegrityNyerere’s integrity, ability as
a political orator andorganiser, and readiness towork with different groupingswas a significant factor inindependence beingachieved without bloodshed.
A committed pan-Africanist, Nyerere provided ahome for a number of African
liberation movementsincluding the AfricanNational Congress and thePan African Congress ofSouth Africa, Frelimo whenseeking to overthrowPortuguese rule inMozambique, Zanla (andRobert Mugabe) in theirstruggle to unseat the whiteregime in Southern Rhodesia(now Zimbabwe).
He also opposed the brutalregime of Idi Amin inUganda. After a borderinvasion by Amin in 1978, a20 000-strong Tanzanianarmy along with rebel groups,invaded Uganda. It took thecapital, Kampala, in 1979,restoring Uganda’s firstPresident, Milton Obote, topower. The battle againstAmin was expensive andplaced a strain on
government finances. Therewas considerable criticismwithin Tanzania that he hadoverlooked domestic issuesand had not paid properattention to internal humanrights abuses. Tanzania was aone party state – and whilethere was a strongdemocratic element inorganisation and a concernfor consensus, this did not
stop Nyerere using thePreventive Detention Act toimprison opponents.
In part this may have beenjustified by the need tocontain divisiveness, butthere does appear to havebeen a disjuncture betweenhis commitment to humanrights on the world stage, andhis actions at home.
His collectivisation of thecountry’s agricultural systemcaused output to plummetand only World Bank and IMFloans averted bankruptcy.
In 1985 Nyerere gave up thepresidency but remained asChairman of the party –Chama Cha Mapinduzi(CCM). He graduallywithdrew from politics,retiring to his farm inButiama.
In 1990 he relinquished hischairmanship of CCM butremained active on the worldstage as chairman of theIntergovernmental SouthCentre.
One of his last high-profileactions was as the chiefmediator in the Burundiconflict (in 1996). He died in aLondon hospital of leukaemiaon October 14, 1999.
[email protected]:Wikipedia
As part of a series on the heroes honoured ineThekwini’s new street and building names, Swazi Dlamini profiles Julius Nyerere
Father of a nation
JULIUS NYERERE
NONDU NGCONGO
THE Government has com-mitted itself to giving peoplewith albinism a better deal.
That’s the word from Minis-ter of Women, Children andPeople with Disabilities, Nolu-thando Mayende-Sibiya.
She was speaking at anevent organised by her dep-artment and the eThekwiniHealth Unit, at the InkosiAlbert Luthuli InternationalConvention Centre recently.
The event was on the eve ofthe World Cup and Mayende-Sibiya said that not enoughhad been done at stadiums toprotect albinos from the sun.
Albinism is a congenitaldisorder characterised by anabsence of pigment in theskin, hair and eyes.
People with the disordersuffer from problems withtheir vision and are moreprone to sunburn and skincancer.
The Minister said albinosdeserved the same consid-eration given to people withother disabilities and must beremembered in governmentplanning and the provision ofservices.
She had raised these con-cerns in Parliament and said“statistics show that thenumber of people living withalbinism is increasing andtheir needs must be taken intoserious consideration becausethey are citizens too”.
Mayende-Sibiya said shewanted everyone to becomebetter educated about albi-nism so that people with thedisorder can live normal lives.
She promised to visitschools to encourage teachersto make more effort to helpalbino pupils.
RespectThe department was leading
a campaign to encourage thepublic to treat albinos with therespect they deserve, saidMayende-Sibiya.
It includes advice for peoplewith albinism on how to takecare of their skin and eyes.
Maskandi singer MrashiyaBiyela shared his story at theevent of not getting a record-ing deal because of his skincolour.
Dudu Mokoena, Manager ofVulnerable People in theMunicipality’s Community
Participation and Action Sup-port Unit, said it was sad tohear such stories.
“Please people, let us uniteand treat these people fair andwith respect because they arelike us,” said Mokoena.
Councillor Simon Zwanesaid he was committing him-self to helping albinosbecause he knows the painthey feel at being excludedand not receiving services likeeveryone else.
“Our Municipality is tryingto cater for all kinds of peopleand it has many programmesto help the disabled. I will takethem to the correct doors,”said Zwane.
Nkosingiphile Sithole, whohas albinism, said at firstchildren at her school gave herstrange looks, but thanks tothe campaign, there has beena change in their thinking.
“Even on radio and tele-vision they talk about thesethings and now, eventually,they are accepting me for whoI am,” said Sithole.
Also at the event wereDeputy Mayor Logie Naidooand Dudu Khoza of UkhoziFM.
MACK MAKHATHINI
THE Municipality, the Kwa-Zulu-Natal Department ofEducation and members ofthe Durban Chamber of Com-merce held a business break-fast at the City Hall recently tolook at tackling difficultiesfacing the department.
KZN Education MEC SenzoMchunu said education wasthe cornerstone for thenation’s development.
“For this reason, educationhas been prioritised as ameans through which SouthAfricans can be extricatedfrom the shackles of povertyand helplessness,” he said.
Mchunu said the govern-ment had decided on a newoutcomes-based approachwhich focused on qualitybasic education, especiallynumeracy and literacy.
It had set as goals improvingthe matric pass rate to 80% by2014 and increasing thenumber of Grade 12s passingmaths and science.
“There are challenges andhurdles that need to be over-come for these targets to beachieved, particularly whenone compares our budgetaryallocation in relation to theneeds,” Mchunu said, notingthat science teachers, espec-ially at rural schools, lackedequipment and labs.
“The bulk of our budgetgoes to staff salaries. Thisleaves very little to address thechallenges we face,” he said.
Mchunu said it was vital thatmore schools and classroomswere built or repaired and thatsupport structures for learn-ing and teaching were prov-ided, if the government’s goalswere to be met.
Mayor Obed Mlaba said hewas passionate about edu-cation. “My parents decided Ishould leave home at the ageof 12 to live with relatives, allin pursuit of education,” saidMlaba.
He commended businessesfor assisting the governmentbut appealed to corporates toadvertise responsibly.
“Let’s stop using the youth inadvertisements to promotealcohol.
“Children cannot decide forthemselves so they arevulnerable. We don’t want anation of drunkards.”
“I’m pleading to you to bepart of nation building.”
Bidvest pledged R1-milliontowards education and ApolloTyres SA promised R100 000.Other companies promised toconsult their boards.
Better deal foralbinos pledged
EDUCATION FIRST: Vukani Khumalo, of the KZN Education Department, DeputyCity Manager of Procurement and Infrastructure Derek Naidoo and Education MECSenzo Mchunu at a breakfast meeting Picture: MACK MAKHATHINI
SHARING IS CARING:Members of the Albanism
Society of South Africa,Pinkie Dlamini, SibongileNxumalo, Bheki Mvubu,
Matthew Dumakude,Councillor Simon Zwane,
Nomasonto Mazibuko andUkhozi FM Presenter
Dudu Khoza
Picture: NONDUNGCONGO
Education MEC drums upsupport from businesses
