Thabo Mbeki to deliver The 2021 Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Lecture on 10 December

Former President Thabo Mbeki will deliver the 15th Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Lecture which marks 60 years of Chief Albert Luthuli’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Award for his role in the non-violent struggle against apartheid.

The theme for this year’s Lecture is ‘Africa & Freedom’premised on Luthuli’s 1961 Nobel Peace Award Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo, Norway.

Mbeki is currently the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan, the Chairperson of the AU High Panel on the Security of the Horn of Africa and the AU-UN High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Outflows from Africa.

He has previously facilitated peace negotiations in various African countries, including Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Burundi, the Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chief Albert Luthuli was honoured and known in South Africa and worldwide as a champion for peace; human dignity; justice and reconciliation.

Due to the current global pandemic, this year’s Memorial Lecture will be delivered virtually on 10 December 2021, from 18:00 – 20:00.

To join, click on the link: Register@Zoom

The Memorial Lecture is jointly hosted by the Luthuli Museum, University of KwaZulu-Natal and National Department of Sport, Arts & Culture.

For general enquiries please contact:

Zinhle Nyembe: profficer@luthulimuseum.org.za OR Pam Adams: Adamsp@ukzn.ac.za

Visit the Luthuli website on: www.luthulimuseum.org.za

About the Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Lecture

The objective of the Memorial Lecture is to promote the principles and values of Chief Albert Luthuli, namely peace, human rights, justice and the coexistence of people in harmony irrespective of race, colour or creed. The Lecture provides a platform for public awareness, critical debate and action on issues important to society.

Previous keynote speakers at the Lecture have included; the former Zambian President K Kaunda; the former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano; the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma; the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Mr Sandile Ngcobo; the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Frene Ginwala; Minister N Mthethwa, MP; Dr Brigalia Bam, former Chairperson of the RSA Independent Electoral Commission and Dr Ishmael Noko, former Secretary-General of the Lutheran World Federation and the former Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jeff Radebe; poet and writer, Dr Wally Serote and the RSA Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane; the former Botswana President, Mr Festus Mogae; the Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Mogoeng Mogoeng, and Ms Samia Ayaa Nkrumah, the daughter of Ghana’s first President, Mr Kwame Nkrumah and Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the UN Undersecretary and Executive Director of UN Women.

About the Speaker

Mr Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born on June 18, 1942 in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. He joined the ANC Youth League in 1956 at the age of 13 and left South Africa for exile in 1962. Mr Mbeki read Economics at Sussex University in England up to the masters’ level. He has been a member of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) since 1975. Mr Mbeki is married to Mrs Zanele Mbeki.

He was appointed Deputy President of South Africa in 1994 and twice elected President in 1999 and 2004.

On September 23, 2008, Mr Mbeki resigned as President of South Africa after being asked to do so by the ANC NEC.

He is currently the Chairperson of the AU High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan, the Chairperson of the AU High Panel on the Security of the Horn of Africa and the AU-UN High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Outflows from Africa. In addition, he also the Chairperson the Board of the South Center, a think of the countries of the Global South, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr Mbeki has previously facilitated peace negotiations in various African countries, including Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Burundi, the Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Upon his retirement as the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Mbeki set up the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, of which he is a Patron, to pursue the ideals of Africa’s Renaissance and through which he undertakes various activities consistent with his ideals. He is currently the Chancellor of the University of South Africa.