"The Return to Africa": Thabo Mbeki and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expected at a conference on reparations

A conference bringing together Africa and its diaspora opens on Monday, October 26, 2026, in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, and runs until Friday, October 30, according to TimesLIVE and Business Day. Its theme: "The Return to Africa." Delegates from the continent, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia are expected to attend.

The organizers present the meeting as an independent platform dedicated to African sovereignty, restorative justice, and solidarity between Africa and people of African descent. The agenda includes: reparations, decolonization, human rights, gender issues, and climate change. The proceedings are expected to result in a declaration and action plans.

Chikane, Mbeki, Sirleaf

Theologian and former senior South African official Frank Chikane is a co-organizer. During a press briefing held in Midrand on Thursday, October 22, 2026, he explained that the idea was born from the observation that Africans and Afro-descendants constantly find themselves in the same international forums: "Whenever we meet together, we always find each other," he stated, as quoted by TimesLIVE. He recalled that people "were stolen from this continent centuries ago" and then enslaved, according to Business Day.

Among the speakers announced are former South African President Thabo Mbeki, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola. The main financial partner is the Kagiso Trust, a South African development agency, whose board chair, Zwoitwaho Nevhutalu, says he wishes for the meeting's success.

Reparations at the heart of the debates

Participants are demanding compensation for slavery, land dispossession, resource exploitation, and cultural destruction, and are calling on former colonial powers for financial reparations, restitution, and investments in the affected communities, reports TimesLIVE.

The conference is taking place in a tense context in South Africa, where anti-foreigner mobilizations have degenerated in recent weeks. According to TimesLIVE, some delegates expressed concerns for their safety; the organizers assured them that the issue was being addressed. Participants also mentioned the murders of women that occurred in Kempton Park.

The paradox will not escape anyone: it is in the country where Africans are attacking other Africans that the unity between the continent and its diaspora is being discussed this week. The final declaration, expected on October 30, will show whether the words hold up against the reality of the streets.