Decline of former liberation movements in Southern Africa :: Mmegi Online

With the recent winds of political changes in South Africa and recently Botswana, Peter Fabricius, who works as a consultant at the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies, made a very interesting analysis about whether the former liberation movements in Southern Africa are going out of fashion or not.

Fabricius states that in this month’s election, Namibia’s South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) ruling party could go the way of the ANC, the Botswana Democratic party (BDP) or perhaps FRELIMO. He opines that the main unstated aim of the Former Liberation Movements of Southern Africa, an informal club of seven movements/parties that brought freedom to their countries, has always been to help each other stay in power.

He postulates that until recently, they had been doing a pretty good job of it as all had remained in power since independence or democracy but things now look gloomier. In May, the African National Congress (ANC) lost its simple majority in South Africa’s legislative elections and was forced to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) with several other parties. In October, Fabricius attests, the BDP, which has been in office since independence from Britain in 1966, was unexpectedly trounced in general elections. It fell from 38 seats to four, and came only fourth in parliamentary seat numbers, conceding power to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).