Mashatile challenges liberation movements to reflect deeply

African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President Paul Mashatile address the Liberation Movements Summit on July 26, 2025.

African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President Paul Mashatile has challenged liberation movements to reflect deeply.

Addressing the 2025 Liberation Movements Summit yesterday, Mashatile asks, “Are our movements still vehicles of justice, or have they become platforms for status and convenience?”

The ANC has convened a four-day conference, which includes the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) in Namibia, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in Tanzania and the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

The party’s NEC member Lindiwe Zulu says the 2025 Liberation Movements Summit aims to bring about solutions to problems such as poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Zulu says the countries are working towards ensuring that their citizens have economic freedom.

She says, “What is very important at this point and time is unity of the leaders of these liberation movements, but beyond leadership and unity – it’s about being sensitive to the challenges that are being faced by our people, that’s poverty, unemployment, inequality and economies hat have a potential to grow and be of service to these people.”

Zulu adds, “This is the main reason why we are here, ensuring that we respond to the needs of the people. It’s about ensuring that the economies of our countries grow for the benefit of the people so that they can have the jobs. So that they can create the jobs for themselves.”