Mandela lecture 2023. Panache Chigumadzi (Zimbabwe-born journalist, essayist and novelist, who grew up in South Africa) would talk to us about the legacy of Nelson Mandela. We were treated to a reflection on the relationship between Europeans and Africans, which again would only be about trade... Ms Chigumadzi links the prosperity of the West to the system of capitalism in which trading in a little bit of everything that was and is tradeable with colonialism, slavery and everything that should never have happened.

According to her, we now face the challenge of how we can and perhaps even must restore the human relationship between south and north. We speak of decolonization and other damage repair. Are we on the eve of a possible radical break between the West and the African continent and Africans? Voices are rising to radically reform concepts such as development cooperation and perhaps even ban them from the vocabulary. A direction in the discussion has not yet been found and the following issue has already arisen: damages or compensation in response to the apologies of the Prime Minister and later of the King for the suffering suffered then and now due to slavery (trade in, exploitation and dehumanization of black people for the purpose of capital accumulation).

When the amount of 200,000,000 euros was announced, some of us thought it might be about development aid... Can slavery, colonialism and their impact be exempt from damage at all? Or would the damage assessment, as Panashe Chigumadzi put it in the Mandela lecture (see lecture), herald the end of capitalism? Chigumadzi argues that today's capital could not be separated from the free labor of colonized and enslaved fellow human beings. Time for a conversation?

The uncomfortable conversation was held on March 13, 2023 in Pakhuis de Zwijger under the leadership of Paul Mbikayi, founder of Wamiliki (a foundation with the aim of making the relationship between Africans and Europeans in Africa and Europe more equal). Under the title "What are you apologizing for?" Glenn Helberg (psychiatrist and activist) and Ivette Foster (presenter) entered into a conversation with each other and with the audience present. Panache Chigumadzi explained her look and answered questions via Zoom. It was a magical evening!