Professor Siphamandla Zondi. Image: Supplied

Colonialism's profound impact lay in its distortion of self-knowledge, a key factor contributing to Africa's persistent poverty and underdevelopment.

Speaking at the Annual Keith Gottschalk Lecture on African Integration at the University of the Western Cape, University of Johannesburg Politics and International Relations Professor Siphamandla Zondi said Africa’s collective ability to overcome poverty and inequality has been diminished through a lack of knowledge. 

Prof Zondi, in his address, urged Africa to establish its own multilateral institutions, asserting that this would liberate the continent from the often burdensome impositions of Bretton Woods institutions.

Seated in UWC’s Library Auditorium and listening attentively were students and staffers who took down notes, sometimes nodding and raising their voices in agreement with Prof Zondi. The lecture was truly a vibrant event and celebration of the legacy of Prof Gottschalk.

Prof Zondi highlighted the divergent paths of South Korea and Ghana, nations that shared similar economic output levels in 1956/1957. He attributed their subsequent differing development trajectories to the knowledge base of their respective leaders and the influence of imperialistic forces, which seemingly favoured one nation over the other.

“The biggest effect of colonialism was to distort what we know about ourselves, to distort what we know about what we’ve been able to do, what we are capable of doing and what we need to do. And therefore, overcoming economic apartheid, cultural apartheid, and all those kinds of things is insignificant if it does not lead to overcoming intellectual apartheid and intellectual colonialism,” said Prof Zondi.

He said education is a necessary tool for freedom, but it is also related to the knowledge that is being shared.

“This conversation is triggered by the legacy of Keith (Gottschalk) and the work that he has been able to do on this campus, in this country and, frankly, across the continent of Africa and beyond,” said Prof Zondi.

Prof Gottschalk, he said, had placed the interest of those on the margins and at the periphery at the centre of world knowledge, humanism and world power. 

“It is Keith joining a huge number of others who have been trying all along to fight an epistemic battle of freedom, an attempt to free our minds about what we need to know and what we need to un-know in order to move forward,” said Prof Zondi.

He first met Professor Gottschalk at a social justice meeting in Johannesburg, where Gottschalk was reading a poem. Jeremy Cronin, former SACP deputy secretary general and a celebrated poet, was also in attendance at this event, which occurred while he was still a university student.

“He (Gottschalk) uses poetry to speak political messages and to teach,” said Prof Zondi. 

Questions, Zondi said, related to economics and politics, development, life chances and quality of life, jobs and finance have become prominent.

“All the more we see and hear that South Africa (and Africa) is hosting the Group of 20 for the first time in 20 years, and won’t be coming this way perhaps for another 20 years,” said Prof Zondi.

South Africa's hosting of the G20 summit comes at a time of increased focus on the Global South's agency. There is a strong emphasis on collaboration, resource pooling and solidarity to fundamentally transform the existing global order.

Prof Zondi said BRICS is central to the G20 but is also central to efforts to change the world.

“Some major decisions are now being explored in relation to a common currency. (Whether) to trade in their own currencies, and perhaps some BRICS currencies, but alternative payment systems, not via VISA or via Mastercard…India has two, China has two and a few other countries already have these alternative payment systems,” said Prof Zondi. 

He praised the BRICS economic bloc's efforts to effect change, but emphasised the need for action over mere discussion. He observed that while BRICS nations prioritise external agendas, internal trade within the bloc has not seen substantial growth. 

“When we have such huge economies working together, it should create a possibility for us to source goods from one of the nine (BRICS members) and not only source goods from those outside(the bloc),” said Prof Zondi.