The ANC's loss of a majority in South Africa mirrors that of other liberation parties on the continent.
Africa’s oldest liberation movement is in trouble and may be going the way of similar groups across the continent.
“It is inevitable that people will start to want change,” said researcher David Soler Crespo, who has written about the “slow death of liberation movements”.However, they have managed to impose a strong grip, not only on the apparatus of power, but also on the psyche of the nation. Looking across the region, civil servants and government appointees, especially in the security forces and state-controlled media were often former guerrilla fighters, who may have put loyalty to the party before the nation.And the legacy of liberation is deeply embedded in the region's culture, with stories of struggle shared across family dinner tables and national media continually reminding citizens of their hard-won freedom.
Throughout most of the 1970s and 1980s it governed the country as the sole legal party, with founding father Kenneth Kaunda at the helm. But discontent grew and in 1990 there were deadly protests in the capital, Lusaka, and a coup attempt. Namibia will hold its general election in November and there is some speculation that it could suffer the same fate as the ANC.Ndiilokelwa Nthengwe, a 26-year-old Namibian activist, says there has been a generational shift.Ms Nthengwe has been at the forefront of many social movements in the country.
unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment of opposition supporters between the first round and second round of the presidential vote. In fact most of Zimbabwe's elections have been marred by allegations of tampering or intimidation of the opposition, although this is always denied by the ruling party, Zanu-PF.
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