The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Africa Reparations Hub at the main campus in Bloemfontein is envisaged to strengthen dialogue.
Launched on 6 June during a colloquium presented by the Department of Public Law in the Faculty of Law, on “Unifying Africa for Action to Advance Reparatory Justice”, this hub is housed in the Department of Public Law.
It serves as an anchor for uncensored dialogue on the thorny subject of amends owed to Africa, hosts the database of resources on Africa’s reparations, and provides a potential home for an expert group on the subject.
It also serves as a hub for Pan-African-led reparations scholarships, policy and advocacy.
Prof. Verene Shepherd, director of the Centre for Reparations Research at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, delivered the keynote address for the launch of the local hub virtually.
The hub is deemed as a platform for academic inquiry and policy advocacy to advance the Africa Reparations Agenda.
It is underpinned by the values and principles of excellence, ubuntu, social justice, African-centredness, and Pan-African epistemological grounding of all its initiatives, operations, activities, and undertakings.
Shepherd highlighted the fact that the hub tied in with the quest for Africa’s reparations for past and contemporary violations and injustices, and was measured with the significant milestones and adoption of the African Union (AU) resolution in favour of building a united front to advance justice and the payment of reparations to Africans.
The university said reparatory justice had been part of international discussions relating to people of African descent at least since the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in 2001, which established the link between past tragedies and crimes.
Atrocities include slavery, the slave trade, colonialism and contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
