Gabon\u2019s High Commissioner to South Africa (SA), Rodrigue Moundounga, has strongly rejected claims that African diplomats boycotted Africa Day celebrations in SA, revealing that some missions stayed away from a traditional gathering in Kempton Park purely due to localized security concerns.<\/p>\n
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Speaking on Africa Day as the continent marked 63 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Moundounga clarified that the decision to skip the event was a precautionary measure linked to recent tensions involving foreign nationals, rather than a political protest against the host nation.<\/p>\n
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According to the envoy, there is absolutely no boycott of Africa Day, and the decision was made simply to protect their communities from potential friction, adding that diplomatic dialogue with the SA authorities remains robust.<\/p>\n
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The statement comes at a pivotal moment for Gabon, which is actively working to restore its continental standing. Moundounga highlighted the country\u2019s recent hosting of the AU Commission\u2019s high-level retreat on peace and security in Libreville as clear evidence of its full reintegration into continental affairs following its political transition. After a temporary suspension by the AU following the 2023 military takeover, Gabon has successfully held elections and returned to the regional fold.<\/p>\n
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According to Moundounga, Gabon\u2019s successful political transition serves as a prime example of dialogue-driven governance, where inclusive consultations and constitutional reforms helped restore stability after severe political upheaval.<\/p>\n
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Defending the AU against critics who argue the body has failed to decisively tackle major crises like the wars in Sudan, the Sahel, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Moundounga urged patience, noting that diplomacy is a careful process and that peace takes time.<\/p>\n
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According to the High Commissioner, the continent has made immense progress since 1963, shifting its primary focus from dismantling colonialism and apartheid toward driving economic development, regional integration, and collective conflict resolution.<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33418,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-35349","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Gabon\u2019s High Commissioner to SA, Rodrigue Moundounga, has strongly rejected claims that African diplomats boycotted Africa Day celebrations","published_date":"2026-05-25 15:35:17","news_description":"Gabon\u2019s High Commissioner to SA, Rodrigue Moundounga, has strongly rejected claims that African diplomats boycotted Africa Day celebrations","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35353,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35349\/revisions\/35353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}