VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

egeneration is anticipated by this study if the exemplars of African Renaissanceembrace and popularise the call for virtuous living.The closing years of the 20 th century brought a “new breed” of leaders such as YoweriMuseveni of Uganda (1986); Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria; Abdoulaye Wade ofSenegal; Thabo Mbeki of South Africa (1999); Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria (2000)and others, with a revived spirit of African patriotism. These are in the forefront of thedevelopment of an African Renaissance. However, the achievement of a renaissancecalls for a leadership determined to deal with the negations of the development of anAfrican Renaissance. Will the renewal of Africa include the willingness of leaders tocommit themselves to the moral transformation as an imperative for the developmentof an African Renaissance? Do these leaders have the will to influence moral changeamongst their political ranks? Will they be willing and determined to give up selfenrichmentschemes and share in the solidarity of suffering with the masses whomthey lead?The HIV/AIDS epidemic personifies most of the negations of the development of anAfrican Renaissance. The faces of people living with HIV/AIDS, with impoverished,disease-ridden bodies, ignorant of the magnitude of their predicament, and caught upin a cross-fire of armed political conflicts of power-hungry despots, are signs ofleadership deficiency. There is a need for an input, which will awaken the compassionof Africa’s public leaders with regard to the suffering of the people. The HIV/AIDSpandemic serves to show how neglect of one’s obligations can lead to greatercomplex effects with aggravating consequences. The effects of the HIV/AIDSpandemic fall into two categories – one psychological and the other concerned withpolitico-economic development. We shall deal with the psychological one concerningthe identity of the African people.1.2.6.2 Africans’ identity and HIV/AIDSOne of the aspects of the development of an African Renaissance is the renewal of theidentity of black African people. I have described above how myths paved the way forthe justification of slavery and colonial imperialism, culminating into the underlying86