Mandela Seeks African Rebirth

South African President Nelson Mandela asked for a renaissance to pull Africa from misery to prosperity, but he told African leaders Monday that a new era depends on better government.

The massacres of Rwanda are a “stern and severe rebuke to all of us,” Mandela declared at a meeting of the Organization of African Unity, its 30th summit and the first free of colonial rule and apartheid.

He attributed much of Africa’s woes to its legacy of colonization but said its leaders must bear responsibility for bad government.

South Africa, long banned from world organizations, is now the 53rd OAU member.