The impact of the transatlantic slave trade goes beyond the exploitation of African labor but also includes the suppression of African creativity, Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Museum Council Dr. Siphe Potelwa told Sputnik Africa ahead of Tuesday's International Slavery Victims Commemoration Day.
"It's painful what happened during the slave trade. We should not take the slave trade from one angle of labor forces. We should take the slavery trade on the issue of creativity by Africans that were naturally born with it," he pointed out.
Africa needs "justice for the decency of the enslaved people," Potelwa, who is also a senior lecturer for creatives and performance and heritage studies at the University of Fort Hare, stated.
"That [slave trade] forced the displacement of many families and community structures and values across the African continent, strengthening imperialism. This is a barbaric act that paved the way for white supremacy, for a racial inferiority, that narrative [is] still prevalent in a large part of the world today," he noted.
According to the expert, African nations do not have confidence in democracy because it is "captured" by European interests.
Potelwa also commended Russia for its support of South Africa during the times of "apartheid, racism, injustice, barbaric brutality, and the slave trade of the African people."
"Russia has an excellent, long-lasting connection because they kept our fighters; they stood with our side when we were in apartheid and colonized brutally. Russia was a significant supporter in the movement of abolishing the apartheid and the slavery of South Africans and Africans in general," the South African lecturer added.