Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said that the outcomes of recent elections are clear warnings to former liberation movements and should not be taken lightly. She made these remarks during the Liberation Movements Summit in Johannesburg on Saturday.
She referred particularly to the liberation parties in Southern Africa that were critical in the liquidation of colonialism and apartheid, saying that those who were opposed to the independence of African countries are currently making efforts to undermine the gains of the revolution, with the long-term objective of weakening and unseating the liberation parties—targeting mostly the youth, who are the majority of voters.
“We need to do things differently and better in order to get different and better results,” she said.
Election results for the past decade show a gradual decline of four of the six liberation parties in Southern Africa:
- The ANC has declined from 62.15% in 2014 to 40.18% in 2024;
- The MPLA has declined from 71.85% in 2012 to 51.17% in 2022;
- SWAPO has declined from 80.01% in 2014 to 53.38% in 2024; and
- ZANU-PF has declined from 63.16% in 2013 to 56.18% in 2023.
However, Mozambique’s FRELIMO and Tanzania’s CCM have significantly improved their results.
FRELIMO improved from 55.9% in 2014 to 71.4% last year, and CCM improved from 60.20% in 2010 to 84.40% in 2020.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah pointed out that other liberation parties in the region and elsewhere in Africa have faded into the obscurity of history, which she said was “deeply regrettable.”
She said that for SWAPO, the Johannesburg Summit was an opportunity to reaffirm the resolve to defend the hard-won gains of national liberation, advance integrated socioeconomic development, and strengthen Pan-African unity in the face of escalating global challenges.
“It is imperative,” she said, “that the sister parties—ANC, MPLA, FRELIMO, ZANU-PF, SWAPO, and CCM—advance regional collaboration so as to ensure that their collective efforts serve the true interests of the people. The SWAPO Party stands steadfast in our commitment to the enduring principle of international solidarity that has sustained the historic struggles of Southern Africa’s liberation movements. It is indeed our resolve to deepen this sacred sisterhood, bound by blood, to counter the rising forces of right-wing racism, neo-colonialism, economic exploitation, and economic blocs that threaten our very sovereignty and progress.”
She urged sister parties in the sub-region to remain vigilant in defending and safeguarding the significant gains made through the sacrifices of countless heroes and heroines.
