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What is the concept of ubuntu which Meghan Markle and Prince Harry said they were moved by?


Harry, Meghan and Archie in South Africa (Picture: mungi.ngomane/Instagram)

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been travelling around South Africa, with Archie in tow for his first royal tour.

During their first engagement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex went to the town of Nyanga, just outside of Cape Town.

Here the royals took part in self-defence classes and female empowerment training as part of the activism initiative Justice Desk.

The Duchess gave a speech, speaking on the importance of community and humanity – a South African philosophy known as ubuntu.

Meghan started off the speech by quoting Maya Angelou: ‘Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it, possibly without planning it, she stands up for all women.

‘Your commitment, to what is right, gives all of us hope,’ she continued.

‘You must keep going. And just on one personal note…may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman of colour, and as your sister.

‘I am here with you and I am here for you and I thank you so much for showing my husband and I the spirit of ubuntu.’

On the tour, Meghan and Harry were also seen holding a book called Everyday Ubuntu.

What is ubuntu?

The word comes from one of the Nguni languages which are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa by the Nguni peoples.

It means ‘humanity’ and is often translated as ‘I am because we are,’ or ‘humanity towards others’.

In a philosophical sense, it is used to mean: ‘the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity’.

Though widely circulated around South Africa, the concept has been popularised outside due to South African Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu’s’ writing of ubuntu theology.

The philosophy of ubuntu has endured in African culture and in modern times you can even get streetwear inspired by the concept.

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