We are reaching the end of an era in southern Africa. The NLMs which acceded to state power in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa embodied the hopes of new democracies. However, as more history of the struggle for democracy is uncovered, we have come to appreciate that these were flawed organizations. Whereas they had projected unity, they had been at times bitterly divided; they had proclaimed human rights, but had been guilty of terror and atrocities; they incorporated women, yet were overwhelmingly patriarchal; and while declaring themselves democratic, they were in many of their practices deeply authoritarian. However, the liberation movements were simultaneously recognized as the vehicles of freedom, and rightly so, because for all their faults, and at their best, they embraced liberal and democratic values; they ultimately proved willing to embrace those against whom they had been fighting; and they were genuinely supportive of racial inclusiveness and equality. Furthermore, because they combined socialist with democratic aspirations, they offered the promise that the racial inequalities of the past would be addressed by redistribution alongside the reconstruction of war-torn economies.

As we know now, ZANU-PF, SWAPO, and the ANC have not merely failed to live up to expectations, but have become an increasing threat to democracy. The promise that they once embodied is now dead. That they will survive organizationally, in one form or another, is not in doubt, but their essence as ‘liberation movements’, as harbingers of hope and freedom, is dying, even as they cling on to power against a future where their continuation as ruling parties is increasingly uncertain.