Special Envoy to the President of South Afruca H.E. Jeff Radebe, at the opening ceremony of the African Political Parties Summit 2025, admonished political parties on the continent of Africa to be vibrant and principled in order to lead their nations to prosperity.
He noted that at the heart of government are political parties, and as such, political parties must be utilized not merely as political machines but as custodians of vision. In his words, “For too long Africa has been scarred by politics that prizes victory over vision”.
H.E. Radebe noted passionately that politics must lead to prosperity, or else it is nothing more than a distraction. He called on political parties to have conversations and to agree to disagree without destroying as well as to compete without destabilizing. He further called on African Nations to share knowledge without fear.
According to him, Africa does not suffer from a lack of blueprints and master plans but rather, political courage to put country before party and to endure short-term political cost for long-term national gain. To this end, he encouraged political leaders to focus not on how many elections are won but how many lives are transformed.
On his part, Chief scribe of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Hon. Fifi Fiavi Kwetey admonished African Political Parties and leaders to periodically self-introspect in order to come out with better leadership outcomes for the African continent.
Mr Fifi Kwetey stressed the role of political parties in crystallizing solutions to the problems of young people in Africa. He noted that without addressing the needs and challenges of the young people of Africa, the existence of political parties would be meaningless.
Mr Kwetey further admonished political parties to establish themselves as facilitating platforms for the actualization of potential on the African continent.
He stressed, “Political leadership must understand that they do not have all the answers and create the platform for all the challenges to be addressed. We cannot under the guise of democracy continue to behave in a manner that shows we do not believe in democracy”.
