In Angola, five people were gunned down by police during a protest over the reduction of fuel subsidies in June. The police respond by saying the response was warranted. In Botswana, civil society organisations worry about rights such as freedom of expression being curtailed.
In Lesotho, the government imposed a nationwide curfew after radio presenter Ralikonelo "Leqhashasha" Joki was shot at least 13 times in May by unknown assailants. Joki was known for broadcasting content that was critical of the government and his death immediately sparked accusations that this was the reason that he was killed.
As the economic devastation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic compounds the economic challenges that Africans confront daily, our leaders should be striving to be more attentive to their constituencies, but it seems the exact opposite has been happening.
But have political parties been given a fair shot at meeting the expectations of their constituencies?
To address that question, the Democracy Works Foundation this month is assembling senior political leaders from across Southern Africa in Johannesburg to share lessons on how to respond to the needs of citizens.
For all their shortcomings, there is no question that the fate of political parties and citizens are inextricably linked. In fact, political parties have become almost synonymous with contemporary democracies. Overall, except for Eswatini, all countries in Southern Africa have adopted democratic constitutions that legalise the formation and functioning of political parties, usually enshrined in bills of rights that give constitutional guarantees for individuals to form and/or join political parties of their choice.
But these parties are diverse. While some parties trace their origins to the nationalist or liberation movements that fought for independence from colonial rule, many others have more recent origins, coming into existence only after the democratic transitions of the 1990s.
Some political parties are well organised, with strong grassroots structures that have stood the test of time, while others have very weak societal rootedness. In many instances, political parties in the sub-region tend to lack clearly defined long-term shared strategic visions that would inspire them to evolve into well-institutionalised institutions.
Political parties in the region also exhibit a general lack of administrative and management capacities, especially in research areas. As a result, most political parties in the region operate with minimal input from research. This situation sometimes results in political parties pursuing agendas contrary to the expectations and needs of their members and the wider public.
From a structural perspective, most regional political parties are characterised by poor governance, with a palpable failure to adhere to internal party rules and democratic principles. Most parties lack clear ideological or programmatic distinction, opting instead to mobilise support along ethnic and regional lines. There is frequent fragmentation of political parties, largely motivated by the failure of these political parties to resolve their internal conflicts amicably and/or accommodate dissent.
In recent years, we have also witnessed a growing trend with respect to alliances and coalitions among political parties. In South Africa, for instance, it has become almost a norm for coalitions to be formed for the purpose of forming local governments. Similarly, the electoral victories by opposition parties in the recent elections in Malawi (in 2020) and Zambia (in 2021) were secured through electoral alliances. Furthermore, governing in a coalition set-up has become an established tradition in Lesotho partly because of its electoral system. However, while coalitions and electoral alliances are increasing, it is also becoming apparent that regional parties lack the requisite skills and know-how to govern or effectively run party politics in these arrangements.
Political parties in the region also tend not fully exploit digital platforms. Admittedly, some regional political parties maintain websites and have opened social media accounts, but these are mostly outdated. This is despite the increased access to the internet through smartphones in the region. The general failure to utilise digital platforms keeps political parties back, making it difficult for them to engage a new technologically savvy public, especially the youth.
With regard to political party financing, there are two main funding mechanisms for political parties in the region: in the majority of the countries, political parties that secure a minimum threshold of the vote in elections are granted public funding to support their activities. However, a few countries, notably Botswana and Zambia, do not make any provision for public funding of political parties. The second financing option is private, although this is often less or less transparent, creating room for political party capture, corruption and reduced accountability.
While other stakeholders such as national parliaments, electoral management bodies, and civil society organisations, among others, have clearly defined regional platforms or networks that facilitate cross-country networking and sharing of experiences, (SADC Parliamentary Forum, Electoral Commissions Forum, Media Institute for Southern Africa, SADC Lawyers Association, SADC Council of NGOs, etc) the same is not the case with political parties. Political parties in southern Africa tend to operate in silos, with minimal regional collaboration.
Citizen participation in political party affairs remains minimal, outside of election campaign periods. Many of the political parties do not have up to date lists of their (paid-up) members. Across the region, public confidence in political parties is on the decline, as recent Afrobarometer surveys show, with the educated and the youth in particular, expressing low confidence in political parties.
While the inclusivity of women is somewhat higher in countries that employ the proportional party-list system for electing legislators (as it is the case in Angola and South Africa), most countries, especially those that employ the First-Past-the-Post electoral systems, continue to fall well below the gender quota requirements agreed to by members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
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The political environment in southern African is generally competitive, although the operating environment for opposition political parties is mixed. In some countries, strong and vibrant competition exists between ruling and opposition political parties. This competition has resulted in the occasional alternation of power from one party to another, for example, the cases of Malawi and Zambia. However, in majority of the countries, there is a dominance of the political space by one ruling party as it is the case in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
While the centrality of political parties to democracy and development is almost taken for granted, political parties tend to be the least targeted with regard to democratisation support. As a matter of fact, aiding political parties as part of the efforts to consolidate democracy has remained what Thomas Carothers poignantly described as "confronting the weakest link" . It is, therefore, not surprising that there tends to be little to no reflection on the state of affairs of these political parties with a view to identifying areas for improvement.
The enthusiastic response from delegates at the Democracy Works Foundation, their generous sharing and frank exchanges - these are all hopeful signs that political parties are as eager for improvement as their constituents. This project is certainly a work-in-progress and it will require a concerted collaborative effort - but we all stand to benefit in the end, politicians and voters alike.
You can watch the live stream on 20 July from 14:15-15:00 https://www.facebook.com/DemocracyWF/live_videos/
