Hosted by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Southern Africa
The year 2024 is poised to be a significant milestone for democracy in Africa, with twenty nations expected to conduct either presidential or general elections. This includes Southern African countries such as Botswana, Comoros, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa. In countries like Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, and South Africa, these electoral processes are anticipated to reinforce their status as established democracies. Conversely, in nations like Comoros and Mozambique, the elections may highlight the challenges related to the implementation of democratic practices, potentially revealing political instabilities and conflicts.
These countries, all of which have experienced the enduring impact of colonialism, have only recently started to adopt democratic institutions. These institutions, however, have shown considerable fragility. Ecologically, these countries, like many others worldwide, are grappling with the effects of global climate change. Elections play a pivotal role in democracies, offering citizens the chance to choose leaders and initiatives that could shape their future. When elections are conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner, they can foster peace and socioeconomic stability.
However, democracy today appears to be under threat from several significant and interconnected global processes. In Western societies, the swift rise of far-right forces, who often gain power through electoral processes, threatens to undermine fundamental democratic values such as inclusion and tolerance. In postcolonial contexts on the African continent, the lingering colonial legacy, manifested through various forms of structural violence and exclusion (including inequality, racism, ethnicism, tribalism, regionalism, xenophobia, and others), poses a direct threat to democracy.
Moreover, globally, emerging challenges such as climate change, global pandemics, the diminishing role of transnational institutions, and technological inequality (currently exacerbated by the advancement of Artificial Intelligence) have been met with democracy’s inability to address these issues, raising questions about its efficacy. These challenges underscore the need for new, transformative social contracts capable of challenging the status quo, addressing current and historical challenges, meeting people’s socioeconomic expectations, and safeguarding human rights and the environment.
In this context, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southern Africa office is hosting a virtual webinar, featuring a presentation by Dr. Ellison Tjirera. His presentation will focus on the current struggles for genocide reparation in Namibia, reflecting the struggles against inequality and for democracy in the country, as well as zoning in on the key actors, discourses, strategies of Namibia's post-genocide society.
DATE: 8 August 2024
TIME: 14:00-16:00 SAST
FORMAT: Virtual
SPEAKER: Dr. Ellison Tjirera
MODERATOR: Mr. Fredson Guilengue
REGISTRATION LINK: Click here
CONTACT: Fredson.Guilengue@rosalux.org or Siviwe.rikhotso@rosalux.org