At the beginning of each semester, the Patron, former President Thabo Mbeki spends a few hours interacting with Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI) students. This is an opportunity to ask key questions on contemporary issues in South Africa, Africa and around the world.
The Interactive Session addressed a number of issues ranging from African Renaissance, the Palestinian question, the US-Africa Summit, Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria, BRICS, International Solidarity and some local socio-economic and political challenges.
Some of the useful points emerging from this session form part of this short brief. On the Palestinian question, the former President emphasised the role of South Africa in finding lasting solutions to the conflict in Gaza. This process involved sending a delegation led by Pahad and Zola and keeping the South African ambassador in Israel as part of the machinery to engage constructively with the Palestinian question. The former President also supported the call around boycotting Israeli products and the need to mobilise, organise and deepen solidarity not only with the people of Palestine, but in support of many other struggles around the world.
On the issue of Boko Haram, the former President emphasised a collective approach to addressing such challenges, including strengthening diplomatic ties and finding ways of tackling the root causes of such challenges. On BRICS there was a strong sense that this offers an opportunity to address the imbalance of power at global level and last that every African, including those in the Diaspora must continue working and contributing to the renewal of Africa