Over at The Mail & Guardian the University of the Witwatersrand's Achille Mbembe wonders what Thabo Mbeki, chief architect of the “African Renaissance,” is playing at with regard to his apparent endorsement of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's galling recent comments in West Africa. At least on the issue of Pan-Africanism, Mbeki has earned the benefit of the doubt (indeed, possibly too much so given his apparent coddling of Robert Mugabe) but Mbembe is rightfully concerned:
That two years before he exits power, Mbeki would tie his impeccable pan-Africanist credentials to Sarkozy is but the latest paradox in the political journey of a man who has thrived on contradictions. Were he to do so, Mbeki would deeply alienate francophone West Africa, of which South Africa knows so little about. He would also run the risk of giving his blessing to a profoundly demeaning representation of the continent by an arrogant former colonial power that has, for the last 50 years, actively stood against the African project of emancipation.
Never let it be said that Mbeki is anything other than complex, but there is a fine line between being complex and being inscrutable. Too often Mbeki crosses that line.
