Liberation movements regroup in SA as political relevance wanes

The African National Congress (ANC) has convened a high-level summit of African liberation movements and political parties in Johannesburg, in what analysts view as a strategic regrouping of once-dominant parties struggling to retain political relevance in fast-changing democracies.

Held under the theme ‘Defending the Gains of Liberation, Advancing Integrated Socio-Economic Development, Strengthening Solidarity for a Better Africa’, the summit brings together parties such as Namibia’s Swapo, Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF, Mozambique’s Frelimo, Angola’s People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Botswana’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

The meeting comes at a time when many of these parties, once celebrated for their roles in liberating their nations from colonial and minority rule, are facing growing criticism and electoral pushback from younger, opposition-led movements demanding economic reform, transparency and accountability.

In Namibia, Swapo has experienced a steady decline in support since 2014. From dominating the National Assembly with 77 out of 96 seats in that year, the party dropped to 63 seats in 2019 and 51 in the most recent elections.

Although president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, won the presidency with 57.3% of the vote, the party lost ground in several key constituencies, exposing its vulnerability.

The African National Congress itself has been forced into a power-sharing arrangement with the white-dominated Democratic Alliance (DA) and smaller parties following South Africa’s 2024 elections, marking a historic shift from its post-apartheid dominance.

Internal factionalism, corruption scandals and public disillusionment have chipped away at the party’s stronghold, pushing it to seek renewed solidarity among its erstwhile opponents.
Elsewhere on the continent, the situation is just as stark.

In Botswana, the BDP, which had ruled for 58 years, managed to win only four parliamentary seats last year.

It was ultimately replaced by the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change, signalling a dramatic political realignment in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

“The election results in Botswana represents a consequential moment. We are clearly seeing a wave in southern Africa of democracies turning their backs against the ruling parties of old,” says International relations specialist at the University of Dundee in Scotland Musa Mdunge.

Mozambique’s Frelimo has faced similar turbulence, accused of ballot rigging and power hoarding, which earlier this year triggered near-civil unrest.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF narrowly survived a potential ouster in 2008 by the then-rising Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Some critics have argued that the MDC won that year’s election but was bullied out by vote rigging, intimidation and mass deaths of opposition supporters.

The election violence that followed, and the 2017 military-led coup that toppled long-time ruler Robert Mugabe, further dented the party’s democratic credentials.

In Tanzania, the ruling CCM secured 98% of the seats in the 2023 local polls, but the process was marred by widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of Chadema opposition member Ali Mohamed Kibao.

Angola’s MPLA also narrowly won the 2022 elections amid allegations of repression and electoral manipulation, highlighting a growing disconnect between ruling elites and the public.

As liberation parties gather in Johannesburg, the summit serves not only as a symbolic show of unity but also as a response to the growing pressure on these ageing movements to reform or risk political extinction.

“The rout of ruling parties in Africa in 2024 – driven by spiraling prices and distrust of political elites, reflects a global trend. And there is little sign that it will let up in 2025 unless economic conditions improve markedly,” says Africa Report editor in chief Patrick Smith.

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