The South African elections brought major changes in 2024

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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Southern Africa, where democracy is well-established, the 2024 elections saw the long-ruling liberal parties struggling.

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Across Africa, power struggles involving military governments, coup attempts and armed conflicts are common, but the southern region has become more stable and elections in other countries have brought joy and hope for a better future.

This is not the case for some groups that have been around for a long time. The positive spirit that has been liberating their countries from colonial rule for decades seems to be giving way to frustration due to economic problems and limited opportunities for young people in the region.

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As voters become younger, and have no personal memories of colonialism, which ended before they were born, the parties of the independence struggle in South Africa are losing power or are being given a wake-up call in 2024.

For many young voters, the performance of government is more important than the historical guarantees of the freedom struggle that these parties have relied on to stay in power for decades, leading to the “shifting of the political plates that we are seeing,” said Nic Cheeseman, a political scientist. and a professor at the University of Birmingham in England.

“Generational change is an important factor in the shifting of political plates that we are witnessing. People want jobs and dignity — you can’t eat memories,” said Cheeseman, who studies African politics.

Botswana, a small country of about 2.5 million people with a history of democratic stability, has delivered a major shock as the economy grapples with declining demand for mined diamonds, and high youth unemployment.

Opposition supporters dressed in blue and white took to the streets to celebrate, while then President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat before the counting of votes was completed following the election held in late October. The collapse of the opposition parties marked the end of the 58-year reign of the Botswana Democratic Party, which had ruled the country since independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.

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In recent months, South African voters have turned to the African National Congress, the party led by anti-apartheid star Nelson Mandela in the 1990s. In May, the ANC lost its majority and was forced to share power with the opposition parties.

The result has put South Africa on a political path not seen for the first time since the end of apartheid thirty years ago. The ANC has been steadily losing support since the 2009 general election, relinquishing control of major cities due to widespread discontent over corruption, poor service provision and economic struggles. However, its drop from 57.5% support to 40% in May was its biggest loss yet.

In Namibia, a candidate for the South West African ruling party, or SWAPO — 72-year-old Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has made history by becoming the country’s first female president.

However, SWAPO won 51 seats in the parliamentary vote, just shy of the 49 it needed to retain its majority and narrowly avoided becoming the next freedom struggle party to be condemned in South Africa this year. This marked SWAPO’s worst parliamentary result since Namibia’s independence from South Africa’s apartheid government in 1990, signaling a potential shift in the country’s political landscape.

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Many liberal governments have cause for concern although the consistency of democratic processes may be commended, said Nicole Beardsworth, a political researcher and lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

“What we see in South Africa is limited stability in terms of democratic principles, where citizens seem to believe that their votes are important and count. So this raises the concerns of the ruling parties,” said Beardsworth.

In Mozambique, results that extended the reign of the ruling Frelimo party for nearly half a century following elections in October sparked protests that left at least 100 people dead, according to Amnesty International.

Exiled opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who is helping to fuel youth discontent in the country of 34 million people, has challenged the election results in court. Also, he continued to call for protests ranging from street marches to road and border blockades and pot-banging.

A similar situation occurred in January in the Indian Ocean island of Comoros, where news that incumbent President Azali Assoumani had won a fourth term sparked violence that left one person dead and dozens injured.

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Cheeseman, a political researcher, said the protests, including in countries where democracy is blocked, show “growing signs – from protests to online protests – that public opinion is already changing.”

“Even citizens who have lost hope in a democratic government want a government that responds and answers, and that their voices are heard,” he said.

The election swept away ruling parties in several countries elsewhere in the region and across the economically troubled continent of more than 1.4 billion people and home to the world’s youngest population.

The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, one of Africa’s most stable democratic states, saw a coalition of opposition parties win all contested parliamentary seats, ousting the government led by Pravind Jugnauth, who replaced Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam.

In West Africa, Senegal in March elected the relatively unknown 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who became the continent’s youngest leader.

Faye defeated rivals including the former prime minister who was backed by then prime minister Macky Sall, just weeks after being released from prison to run for office. And hopes for change continue to be high in a country where more than 60% of people are under 25 and 90% work in informal jobs, after Faye’s PASTEF group won 130 of the 165 seats.

Former President John Dramani Mahama returned to power in Ghana, as voters expressed their anger at the policies of outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo in early December. Mahama’s National Democratic Congress, 65, also won in parliament.

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Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg, and Monika Pronczuk in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

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