admin
South Africa’s leading party of liberation, African National Congress (ANC) was yesterday cruising to a foregone victory in that country’s fifth democratic elections.Partial results that had been issued by 2PM yesterday showed President Jacob Zuma’s ANC holding a commanding lead of 62 percent.
With about 96 percent of the votes counted, the apartheid party, Democratic Alliance (DA) was second with 22 percent.
Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party was in third place with six percent in a largely peaceful election that registered a turnout of just over 73 percent.
The Pan-Africanist Congress and the South African Communist Party also contributed immensely to the liberation struggle of our neighbour but have become a minor factor in its body politic.
Many of us who believe in the ideals of liberation struggles of Africa, black self-determination and defence of African sovereignty and want those ideals promoted and defended, are enthused that the majority of voters in our biggest trading partner and neighbour are returning the ANC to power.
It has been consistently elected since that country attained independence from apartheid in 1994 with crushing majorities so we expected another victory in Wednesday’s election.
Indeed the ANC was instrumental in our own liberation struggle and after we attained our own independence in 1980, the new Zimbabwe government facilitated the opening of ANC offices in Harare.
During our independence war, the ANC was actually involved in combat operations with Zipra forces. Its military wing, Umkhonto Wesizwe, fought a number of battles jointly with Zipra, in the Hwange area.
That bond has stayed since then, which is why the party of liberation in Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF has stayed close to ANC. President Mugabe, speaking at the ZITF late last month, expressed his support for ANC.
“ANC must win, that is the revolutionary party and izawina kuphela, amandla ngawethu. We, therefore, wish you all the luck in your upcoming elections,” the President said.
He must be happy that his wish, that of his party Zanu-PF and fellow liberation movements in Africa, has come to pass.
We look forward to a deepening of bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa, between Zanu-PF and ANC.
But we express concern here that the ANC’s popularity, gauged by election outcomes over the past 20 years has been declining, while that of right wing DA continues to improve. In the last election in 2009, the ANC saw a slight drop in support, polling 66 percent of the vote. This time around, it is likely to drop further to around 62 percent.
As this happens, the DA has increased its share of the vote from 17 percent in the last election to 22 percent. This is a significant five percent jump for a party that must be in progressive decline two decades after democracy arrived down south.
What does this mean for South Africa? What does the resurgence of DA signify for ANC? Isn’t there a chance that in the next 20 years or so, the white-dominated DA would compete with ANC on equal footing? What implications will that have for real democracy and the liberation movement in South Africa, and her neighbours? ANC got it, yes, but this is the time to reflect on the statistics, and asking hard questions why the revolutionary party’s popularity is falling, while that of its main opponent is rising. Corrective action has to be taken, and taken immediately for the liberation party to continue its dominance, with the likes of EFF complementing it.
Malema was only 13 when South Africa won independence in 1994. He is an upstart politically, but has demonstrated substantial depth in articulating the story of the poor, black majority. He speaks for the total liberation of South Africa, saying while political independence came 20 years ago; economic independence for blacks is still far off. He wants the nationalisation of the lifeline mining sector; he wants compulsory acquisition of land. He envies Zimbabwe’s economic indigenisation programme and our land reclamation process of the past decade or so. He speaks the language of genuine liberation like Zanu-PF.
We are pleased he had already won about six seats in parliament by yesterday afternoon, with hopes his EFF’s strength would grow to around 23.
“We are not sorry for the inconvenience of the beneficiaries of the system,” he said. “But this is a revolution; it is not a bed of roses, the struggle between the future and the past. We have refused to submit but chosen to fight for the economic freedom of our people and we shall overcome. Salute!”
We celebrate with him. His party is only seven months old yet received more than one million votes! That is substantial and shows that the party’s message has an audience in that country and sooner or later, it could grow into a larger voice.
Online Reporter