By a Correspondent
Political activist and commentator Takura Zhangazha (pictured) says the late Mozambican revolutionary leader Samora Machel understood Pan-Africanism as a practical expression of solidarity among African people and liberation movements.
Speaking during the Samora Machel@40 Symposium at Rhodes University in South Africa, Zhangazha said Machel’s commitment to supporting liberation struggles across the continent demonstrated his belief that the freedom of one African nation was inseparable from the freedom of others.
Drawing from a documentary by scholar John Saul, Zhangazha recounted an early post-independence visit by Machel to Zimbabwe, where the Mozambican leader challenged celebratory narratives of liberation by insisting that the struggle continued beyond the attainment of political independence.
According to Zhangazha, Machel’s famous slogan, “A luta continua,” was not a call to return to armed struggle but a reminder that newly independent nations still had to confront poverty, superstition, nepotism and social injustice.
“The struggle that Samora was referring to after independence was no longer about carrying the gun. It was about social and economic justice,” Zhangazha said.
He argued that Machel’s Pan-Africanism went beyond ideology and was rooted in active solidarity with oppressed peoples across the continent.
“Samora’s Pan-Africanism was quite literally about solidarity. Not only ideological solidarity, but solidarity in action and struggle for the betterment of all people,” he said.
Zhangazha highlighted Machel’s support for Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle despite Mozambique’s own economic challenges following independence from Portugal. He recalled an interview in which Machel responded to criticism that Mozambique was sacrificing its own development by assisting neighbouring liberation movements.
“Samora simply pointed to Zimbabwe and said, ‘Zimbabwe is there. Is that not a fact?’ For him, the liberation of Zimbabwe was a priority even before Mozambique itself became economically prosperous,” Zhangazha said.
He said the example demonstrated Machel’s conviction that freedom and human dignity across Africa were more important than narrow national interests.
Zhangazha also cautioned against viewing Pan-Africanism as a modern invention detached from its historical roots. He noted that the movement emerged through the efforts of intellectuals and activists in the African diaspora, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, before being embraced by African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah and, later, Machel.
“Pan-Africanism is a global ideological concept. It is not geographical. It is based on the principle that Africans, wherever they are, remain in solidarity with one another,” he said.
The symposium brought together academics, activists and liberation struggle veterans to reflect on Machel’s political legacy four decades after his death, with discussions focusing on his contributions to African liberation, socialism and regional solidarity.
