JOHANNESBURG –The notorious Zanu PF is partaking in the African National Congress (ANC)’s high-level gathering of former liberation movements from the region .
Most of the former liberation movements are grappling with legitimacy crises, declining popular support, and accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and repression.
The event, which begins Sartuday, brings together leaders from Angola’s MPLA, Mozambique’s FRELIMO, Namibia’s SWAPO, Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and Zimbabwe’s notorious Zanu PF. The meeting is convened under the theme:“Defending the Liberation Gains, Advancing Integrated Socio-Economic Development, Strengthening Solidarity for a Better Africa.”
While cloaked in the language of unity and pan-African development, the gathering comes at a time when these liberation-era parties face mounting public disillusionment. The ANC itself suffered a historic setback in the 2024 general elections, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid — a dramatic fall from grace driven by corruption scandals, economic mismanagement, and deteriorating public services.
Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF — one of the ANC’s closest allies — continues to be one of the most discredited parties in the region.
Despite presiding over a country plagued by economic collapse, rampant inflation, and mass emigration, the party has retained power through repeated allegations of electoral fraud, systematic intimidation of the opposition, and gross human rights abuses. The August 2023 general elections were widely condemned as flawed by international observers, with the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) calling the process a “democratic sham.”
Namibia’s SWAPO and Angola’s MPLA have similarly faced waning public trust, especially among the youth, who increasingly view these parties as relics of the past more interested in preserving elite privileges than advancing genuine development.
ANC NEC member Nomvula Mokonyane framed the event as a moment of renewal and relevance:
“This is a good reawakening. People have been wishing us well… There’s an appetite to engage and contribute.
Those who are angry are saying: why did it take us so long?”
However, critics argue that rather than reflecting a vision for a “better Africa,” the gathering exposes a deepening crisis within these former liberation parties — a political class unwilling to let go of power or acknowledge their failures.
As Southern Africa confronts rising inequality, democratic backsliding, and youth unrest, the nostalgic rhetoric of “liberation gains” may no longer be enough to secure legitimacy for parties long out of touch with the people they once claimed to liberate.
Source: Zimeye
