On 28 September 2024 a delegation headed by the Mayor of Bremen, (Federal Republic of Germany), Dr Andreas Bovenschulte, visited ACCORD House. The delegation was in Southern Africa to visit Durban and Windhoek. Bremen has sister city status with Durban (since 2011) and Windhoek, the Republic of Namibia (since 2000).
The foundation of the association “Partnerschaft Bremen-Durban e.V.” was preceded by a long history of political and social involvement in Bremen. This included Women against Apartheid, the fruit boycott, the commitment of the Bremen Anti-Apartheid Movement against military collaboration, the Sowetotag 1986, and Aktion Bundesschluss gegen Zwangsumsiedlung (Action Federal Agreement against Forced Resettlement), to name a few examples.
The first time a German city was twinned with a city in Africa was in 1963 between Eckernförde in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and Tanga in Tanzania on 27 September 1963.
The visit provided an opportunity for the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Dr Vasu Gounden, to share with the Mayor ACCORD’s prognosis on the current and future socio-political environment on the Continent, within South Africa, including the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the work of ACCORD.
