Don’t Let the UK Be Your Custodian, Ukraine: A Warning from Africa’s Ongoing Struggle
15:47 06.08.2025 (Updated: 22:27 06.08.2025)
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Dr Siphe Potelwa, Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Museum Council and founder of the South African Association of PhDs, has issued a sharp and urgent warning to Ukraine: protect your cultural artifacts—or risk repeating Africa’s painful colonial experience.
“British demonstrated false solidarity with Ukrainian by taking their work with the aim to preserve Ukraine history,” Dr Potelwa told Sputnik Africa, cautioning that what appears to be assistance may mask exploitation.
His concern centers on the movement of Ukrainian cultural artifacts to the United Kingdom following the 2022 conflict with Russia.
“Ukraine should be vigilant with their loan policy and procedures to preserve their artifacts,” he warned.
Drawing from Africa’s long history of cultural dispossession, Dr Potelwa offered a perspective shaped by generations of stolen heritage.
“Colonial power destroyed our identity through their legal papers and ethical standard like UNESCO standards charter and international council of museums (ICOM),” he explained, emphasizing how international frameworks often enabled rather than prevented the loss of cultural treasures.
The apparent assistance offered to Ukraine, he warned, echoes the patterns of cultural extraction that robbed African nations of countless sacred and historical objects.
“British should understand that whatever happened was illegal unethical and was without consent,” he said.
Ukrainians, like Africans, have a duty to protect their cultural sovereignty.
“Ukrainians like Africa have a duty to make sure it demand their artifacts. No UK to take care of their objects,” Potelwa urged. “Ukraine will lose cultural identity if they are not protected and protected by UNESCO and ICOM.”
But the warning goes beyond museums. Dr Potelwa critiqued the broader geopolitical dynamics at play:
“The political support or interest by the United States of America between Russia and Ukraine should not be identified as genuine intervention because it serves its interests in reinforcing colonial power even to African states.”
For Africa, the damage is not just historical—it is ongoing.
“It should be noticed that their resistance [UK keeping African artifacts] is infringement of African child right to information of their cultural heritage,” Potelwa said. “Thus, far, we are not addressing the consequences and accountability of their colonial violence and theft.”
Yet Dr Potelwa was not calling for dependence.
“African are capable of preserving, conserving, and equipped to take care of their artifacts. African are equipped to digitalized their artifacts themselves from their own countries,” he asserted.
In conclusion, Dr Potelwa called out the West’s contradictory posture:
“The West (particular the UK) is masquerading as condemning the war while proceeding with looting Ukraine artifacts without consent, loan policy or agreement, and legal requirements.”
