ANC hosted the inaugural Liberation Movements Summit in Kempton Park at the weekend, bringing together leaders from historic liberation parties across the continent, amid challenges facing Africa.

The three-day summit united representatives from Mozambique’s FRELIMO, Namibia’s SWAPO, Angola’s MPLA, Zimbabwe’s ZANU-PF, and Tanzania’s CCM.

This was under the theme ‘Defending Liberation Gains, Advancing Integrated Socio-Economic Development, Strengthening Solidarity for a Better Africa.’

Delegates adopted a joint declaration affirming their commitment to unity, justice, peace, and development across the continent.

In his keynote address on Sunday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula addressed concerns regarding threats to Africa’s sovereignty, highlighting issues such as foreign interference, neocolonialism, and digital imperialism.

“We reject all forms of foreign interference, neocolonialism and digital imperialism, and assert our collective right to shape our development on African terms,” he said.

He emphasised that African development must be shaped on African terms.

“We meet at a time of global turmoil—wars rage in Europe, the Middle East, and parts of our continent,” Mbalula said.

As the oldest liberation movement in Africa, the ANC carried not only the legacy of struggle but a responsibility to work for peace wherever conflict endangers human dignity.

Mbalula reiterated the ANC’s support for the African Union’s Silencing the Guns initiative, which aims to address conflicts in Africa through dialogue, disarmament, and inclusive peace-building.

Extending this vision globally, he called for a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war and announced a firm stance on arms exports.

In line with South Africa’s constitutional values, no South African arms manufacturer—public or private—will be allowed to export weapons to the Ukraine conflict zone.

This is not an anti-European position. It is a pro-peace position, he stated.

His remarks follow growing concerns over Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM), the South African arm of Germany’s Rheinmetall.

RDM recently secured its largest-ever contract—worth hundreds of millions of euros—to supply 155mm artillery rounds to an unnamed NATO country.

Deliveries begin this year and run through 2027.

Critics allege that these weapons could reach conflict zones such as Ukraine and Israel, bypassing South Africa’s export restrictions.

Activists have protested outside RDM’s Boksburg plant, and MPs have raised alarms over potential violations of end-user agreements.

In April, MPs called on the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) to strengthen oversight and enforce accountability.

Parliamentarians warned that arms sales contradict South Africa’s principled stances on Palestine and Russia, and could undermine efforts at the International Court of Justice.

The summit received strong messages of solidarity from Cuba, Algeria’s National Liberation Front, the Polisario Front of Western Sahara, Palestine’s Al Fatah, Nicaragua’s Sandinista Front, and the Communist Parties of China and Russia.

Adding to the tension, concerns have been raised over Ukraine’s expanding diplomatic footprint in Africa.

In 2024, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger accused Kyiv of supporting destabilising groups in the Sahel, a charge that continues to fuel debate over foreign influence on the continent.

As the summit concluded, liberation movements called for renewed unity and vigilance in safeguarding Africa’s sovereignty, peace, and political integrity.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, encouraged the liberation movements to be united and not be divided or destroyed by colonial powers.

“We must not allow ourselves to lose power,” he said.

ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane delivered a blistering political broadside against Western powers, accusing them of a longstanding agenda to brand African liberation movements as terrorist organisations — an effort she said has failed dismally.

“They tried to brand us as terrorists, but failed,” Mokonyane declared.

We were not terrorists — we were the vanguard of justice, fighting to dismantle the last bastions of colonialism on this planet, said Mokonyane.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

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