ANC and Frelimo face a reckoning with disenchanted young voters
The two fabled liberation movements have lost their lustre in their own countries after decades of unrelenting corruption and failure in government, writes Dan Moyane
In a few months South Africa will hold what has been billed as one of the world’s key elections to watch in 2024. But this is not the only election that will take place in our neighbourhood this year. The democracy show will roll on in Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique too.
The South African and Mozambican elections hold the most interest because the outcome will determine how the region shapes up in the future, considering the huge influence their respective governing parties — the ANC and Frelimo — have had in Southern Africa over the past 60 years.
The date for the elections in Mozambique has been set for October 9. South Africans are still waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim the election date, which could be any time between May and August.
With a history of the freedom struggle against colonialism and apartheid behind them, the two countries ushered in multiparty democracy at the same time in 1994, albeit in different contexts, and since then they have both marched to the regular election beat in the same year.
The fortunes of the ANC and Frelimo have been intertwined for decades, with the former liberation movements sharing a joint inspirational history of struggle for freedom, justice and peace. The cultural, labour, trade, economic and political ties between Mozambique and South Africa are deeper than many people imagine.
A story is told of how the late SACP and ANC leader Joe Slovo gave up his seat on a plane in Botswana in the 1960s so that a young Samora Machel could fly to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, where he joined the newly formed Frelimo, founded by Eduardo Mondlane who had studied at Johannesburg’s Wits University. There was a time when Mozambican migrant mineworkers were members of both the ANC and Frelimo, as well as of South African trade unions.
Black students belonging to the South African Students’ Organisation held pro-Frelimo rallies in the 1970s, inspired by the liberation war in Mozambique. After a unit of the apartheid army raided several ANC homes in Matola in January 1981, killing 13 freedom fighters, president Machel declared at a public rally with ANC president OR Tambo that Mozambicans and South Africans would fight together to defeat apartheid.
Fast forward 40 years and the ANC and Frelimo are among the most influential political parties in Africa today. Frelimo has been in power since 1975 and the ANC since 1994.
Disappointingly, the two parties have been infiltrated and subverted by elements hell-bent on amassing ill-gotten gains from the public coffers. Endemic corruption has eroded public trust in the parties and their leadership. Within them, there are men and women of integrity, but their influence has waned. It was drowned in the wickedness of politicians who claim to have the public interest at heart while they are nothing but wolves in sheep’s clothing. These thieves have stolen the future of the children of Southern Africa.
Post-1994 it’s become clear that, without the economic means, political freedom in South Africa is not enough to truly liberate its people and unleash the full potential of all its resources. Economic freedom and inclusivity are essential.
But what is tragic is the fact that after gaining power many of those who fought for freedom became corrupt. Not all of them. But a good number of them. This tragedy seems to have gained momentum.
The levels of corruption, poverty, inequality and unemployment in Mozambique and South Africa are horrendous. The fact is that the two countries are endowed with some of the most diverse and richest natural resources — underground, on land and at sea. But bad governance, gross mismanagement, incompetence and blatant cronyism have terribly damaged the delivery of a better life for all promised by the two ruling parties over the past 30 to 50 years.
They still make the right noises, but they sound increasingly like empty shells.
Today’s reality is that young people of Mozambique and South Africa, who make up the largest portion of their populations, no longer trust Frelimo and the ANC to lead them to that better life for all. There are signs that young people are
realising the power of the ballot. But will they use it in 2024? The ANC and Frelimo will find out soon enough.
A growing number of young Mozambicans expressed their disillusionment with Frelimo during the controversial and highly contested local government elections in October 2023. Frelimo was roundly condemned, even by veterans such as Graça Machel, for what many saw as blatant fraudulent activity.
Now Frelimo is bracing itself for more pain in this year’s presidential and national elections as opposition parties aim to leverage the votes of disenchanted youth who have expressed public anger at the presidency of Felipe Nyusi. Frelimo will choose its new presidential candidate in March. The scandal over the $2bn “hidden debt” still looms large over Frelimo and its government, with former finance minister Manuel Chang facing a legal battle in New York after being extradited from South Africa, where he was arrested in December 2018.
In South Africa, the ANC says it is confident it will retain its majority in the National Assembly in the 2024 elections, but a growing number of young South Africans want change. Many are wondering whether the ANC is still worthy of support. Could
their declined trust in the ANC result in a national coalition government and the ANC losing power to the opposition in another province, in addition to the Western Cape?
Three decades after the end of apartheid, the country remains deeply divided along racial and economic lines. South Africans are still waiting for tangible consequences arising out of the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, with the Gupta brothers, friends of former president Jacob Zuma, still roaming free.
Several new political parties, NGOs and movements have been established by young South Africans. But will they garner enough support to be put in a position where they can bring about the change that many of them say is needed at this stage of the young South African nation?
One thing is clear: unless the ANC and Frelimo can serve the basic aspirations of their citizens through clean governance, the levels of distrust in them by the youth will intensify and they will seek new leaders, correctly so. Will 2024 be that year of significant change, or will the ANC and Frelimo extend their grip on power?