16/08/2026
SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF PAYCO, ON BEHALF OF PAYCO
COMMEMORATION OF THE 2004 BANYAMULENGE MASSACRE
Theme: “Let us remember, let us fight for justice, let us condemn the ideology of genocide in the DRC.”
Comrades, brothers and sisters, members of the Banyamulenge community, fellow Africans,
I greet you in the name of PAYCO and the Pan Africanist Congress.
Today, we gather not merely to remember the dead, but to honour their lives, to demand justice for their families, and to reaffirm our commitment that the ideology of genocide, ethnic hatred and the dehumanisation of African people must never be allowed to triumph on our continent.
On the night of 13 August 2004, at Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi, Banyamulenge refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo were brutally attacked. The United Nations investigation recorded that 152 Congolese Banyamulenge refugees were killed, 106 were wounded and eight remained missing. The victims were targeted because of their ethnicity.
We remember them today.
We remember the mothers, fathers, children and elderly people whose lives were violently taken away.
We remember those who survived carrying wounds that no medical treatment can fully heal.
And we remember the families who have waited for justice.
But, comrades, remembrance without justice is incomplete.
We therefore say: Let us remember. Let us fight for justice. Let us condemn the ideology of genocide.
The Banyamulenge question must not be reduced to the politics of ethnicity, nor should the suffering of one African community be used to deepen divisions among Africans.
As Pan Africanists, our position is clear: the pain of one African people must be the concern of all African people.
Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe reminded us that “there is only one race to which we all belong, and that is the human race.”
That principle is profoundly important today.
We cannot build Africa by allowing African people to be classified as foreigners in their own continent, enemies in their own countries, or disposable victims because of their identity.
We must reject the politics of hatred, whether it comes in the form of ethnic chauvinism, tribalism, xenophobia or genocidal propaganda.
Comrades,
The tragedy of the Great Lakes region is also a reminder of the unfinished business of African liberation.
Africa remains divided into artificial political boundaries. Our people are separated from one another while capital, corporations and foreign interests cross our borders with ease.
Our continent remains rich in minerals, land, oil, gas and other natural resources, yet millions of Africans remain poor.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is perhaps one of the clearest examples of this contradiction: a country of extraordinary natural wealth but a people who have endured decades of war, displacement and suffering.
We must ask ourselves: Why is Africa so rich in resources yet so poor in the conditions of life of its people?
The answer cannot be found only in tribalism or bad leadership.
We must confront the historical and continuing structures of imperialism, colonialism and an international capitalist system that has too often treated Africa as a source of raw materials and a field for competing external interests.
This does not absolve African leaders or African institutions of responsibility. We must hold our own governments accountable. But we must also recognise that African problems cannot be separated from the global structures of power that continue to shape our economies, our conflicts and our political choices.
This is why Pan Africanism remains relevant.
The African Union itself recognises the need for a politically united and integrated Africa based on Pan Africanism, self-determination and economic integration. Its Agenda 2063 explicitly speaks of moving towards a United Africa and continental integration.
For PAYCO and PAC, this cannot remain merely a beautiful aspiration written in policy documents.
We must work towards a United States of Africa.
A politically united Africa.
An economically integrated Africa.
An Africa capable of defending its people.
An Africa capable of resolving African conflicts.
An Africa where African resources are used primarily for the advancement and prosperity of African people.
An Africa where no African refugee is abandoned simply because their suffering is politically inconvenient.
And an Africa where the African Union has the courage and capacity to intervene when African lives are threatened.
The AU must do more than issue statements after massacres have taken place.
It must strengthen African mechanisms for early warning, conflict prevention, civilian protection, accountability and justice.
The perpetrators of mass atrocities must know that African lives are not cheap and that crimes against African people will not disappear into history without accountability.
Comrades,
Our struggle is also an economic struggle.
Sobukwe and the Africanist tradition understood that political freedom without economic freedom is incomplete. Africa cannot be truly independent while we export our raw materials and import finished products at higher prices.
We cannot speak of sovereignty while our economies remain dependent.
We cannot speak of freedom while our young people are unemployed and our natural wealth leaves the continent.
Therefore, Africa must benefit from Africa.
Our minerals must create African industries.
Our land must feed African people.
Our energy must power African development.
Our wealth must create African jobs.
Our knowledge must develop African societies.
And our children must inherit an Africa that is united, peaceful, prosperous and free.
To our Banyamulenge brothers and sisters here in South Africa: your presence here reminds us that borders created by history must never destroy our common humanity.
You are Africans.
Your suffering is African suffering.
Your demand for justice is an African demand for justice.
And your struggle against genocidal ideology is part of the wider struggle to ensure that never again shall an African community be targeted for destruction because of who they are.
Let us therefore transform remembrance into action.
Let us transform mourning into mobilisation.
Let us transform division into unity.
Let us transform Africa's resources into African prosperity.
And let us transform the dream of Pan African unity into a political reality.
As Sobukwe declared, “Africa is one and desires to be one.”
That must be our message.
That must be our commitment.
That must be our struggle.
Let us remember the victims of Gatumba.
Let us demand justice.
Let us condemn genocide and every ideology that dehumanises African people.
Let us defend the dignity of every African community.
Let us unite Africa.
Let us build the United States of Africa.
Let us make Africa for Africans, and let Africans enjoy the wealth of their own soil.
“Mapambano yanaendelea mpaka Banyamulenge wapate uhuru.”
Izwe lethu iAfrica! 💚✋🏾
