Are ICTs new tools for democracy in Africa? The case of Zimbabwe and Swaziland
Both the colonial and postcolonial order in Africa saw an intensification of hostile political regimes. This became even more evident in the latter period. After colonization many political regimes in Africa sustained the colonial legacy of exclusive politics further under the pretext of decolonization. Looking at the current political landscape in Africa, it appears that issues of liberal democracy, human rights and the rule of law still remain a challenge in foreseeing a democratic Africa.
Paying close attention to Southern Africa, it shows that even though some regimes have democratized, many governments in the region still adopt a kind of exclusive and hostile politics. Zimbabwe and Swaziland validate this point. Global institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and others have used neoliberal policies to enforce the culture of democratic politics in Africa. In response to this, countries like South Africa were able to democratize and break away from the racial politics of apartheid. However, both Swaziland and Zimbabwe took a move that is in contrast to the neoliberal ideology of the contemporary global order.
Nonetheless, the public resistance to the 2008 general elections of Zimbabwe and the emergence of democratic movements in Swaziland indicate a move away from exclusive politics through initiatives propagated by members of civil society. Throughout these moves, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become crucial means to foster democratic politics and raise public debates on issues central to democratic governance thus includes issues such as elections, human rights and rule of law. These issues are not normally debated in public spaces in Swaziland and Zimbabwe given the existence of judiciary laws that threaten the freedom of expression on the account of securing public order.
Following these cases, it becomes evident that ICTs do not only foster democracy alone but they provide and protect fundamental liberties such as the freedom of speech which is mostly endangered by authoritarian leaders. The politics of internet resistance is normally a response to a curtailed media environment that is viewed biased in the coverage of political news while subject to censorship. In overriding these concerns, the internet has provided a gateway through which civil society can resist and challenge the dominant discourse of the ruling party.
Through blogging and citizen journalism, many Zimbabweans have been able to challenge the rhetoric of the ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and to denounce its forms of governance. To most who have an interest in political news on Zimbabwe, the website Kubatana has become a source for civil society information and has provided platforms for online participation in political debates. In Swaziland democratic movements have relied on the use of social media such as Facebook to raise discourses that challenge the Kingdom. This has yielded positive effects in promoting freedom of speech and the right to dissent.
But the challenge remains that not everyone in Zimbabwe and Swaziland has access to computer technologies and networks in order to participate in the online forums that carry political debates. Apart from physical access, illiteracy, unemployment and poverty hinder a progressive usage of ICTs to promote democracy in Africa but this does not deny ICTs an ability to promote alternative politics and democracy.
Isaac Themba Mnguni
Note: This article draws on my Honours research report submitted to the Department of Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand in November 2010.
-
kgalalelo morwe
Themba I agree with you to a certain degree. But don’t you think that too much emphasis is put on ICT’S and not human agency. I think our approach to ICT for democracy tends to be too technologically deterministic. don’t u think? I mean, Democracy has existed long before technological revolution.
Reply -
Shepherd Mpofu
This is an interesting read Themba. I cannot point out interesting points but somethings are curious.
What is your definition of democracy in this context? In any case, for me Zimbabwe has been under authoritarian rule since the colonists came and has never been independent. Added to that, it seems you do not want to problematise the issue of ICTs. In short you seem to romanticise them. It is curious also to find out the basis of your argument that SA has ‘deracialised’ as in most cases you cannot talk about the economy and general ‘politics’ without implicating race (and rightly so).
Last, there is need for caution if discussing ICTs and democracy in the sub-region as you cannot fall into the pit of being overly optimistic or celebratory and pessimistic. It is a tight rope.
Reply -
Pontus
Interesting. I wrote about the same topic on Project Carousel earlier in the year: http://www.projectcarousel.org/2010/02/digital-resistance-in-zimbabwe/
I’ve got bit more careful about championing the potential of the web in democratisation over the last few months, especially considering the really strong crackdown in Iran in the last year or so.
Have you been following the slacktivism/clicktivism debate at all in South Africa? In the UK it’s been massive following Malcolm Gladwell’s article in the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell.
One of my Project Carousel colleagues has saved lots of articles relating to it here: http://www.delicious.com/kplanetoide/gladwell
Reply -
Themba/Isaac
thank you very much for the concerns raised on my piece. Just to bring about clarity, my way of approach to ICT and its potential to “champion” democracy is framed within a liberal democracy. basically, my take is that through ICT’s we have foreseen the realization of socio-political rights associated with notions of freedom of speech and press. And these are the most repressed rights in authoritarian regimes represented by African governments.
@ Kgalalelo, you right, democracy has existed long before ICT’s were born, but in this current information age, ICT’s have enhanced liberal democracy, and i would argue differently from the point of departure you making. In Africa ICT’s do not only assume a deterministic role, but they are also subject to cultural shaping and social constructivism i.e. the case of mobile culture and democracy in Africa. But you raising a crucial view of ICT and Human agency. In few cases in Africa there has been is a direct link/ effect between online and offline democracy (i.e. Swaziland and Egypt).Guess i what i’m trying to say is that in some cases ICT’s does promote human agency through mass mobilization organised via ICT’s.
@ Shepherd, in the case of South Africa, i really would consider your argument had i been advocating for radical democracy, using a post Marxist framework. nonetheless, your view does touch on important stuff between democracy and transformation, and this is challenge that the South African government is currently overburdened with.
@ Pontus, thanks for the links, really would fixed my eyes on them.I haven’t heard much on slacktivism/clicktivism debate in South Africa, but thanks for bringing that into my attention.
Reply-
Vukosi
I think the African landscape is being changed by communication technology as a whole. I do not think it mainly lies with internet access through the normal channels of computers but mobile access (way cheaper for poor families) as well. Having cellphones that have access to the internet will mean that the lay person in Africa will have access to a whole world of knowledge and organisations in countries will be able to point to their sources of information easily. Yes activism is moving online and it is breeding the next generation in our communities. It will also be a major sticking point to see if in future governments enact legislation that might block specific websites such as the “Great Firewall of China”. This being an act similar to banning newspapers or having a media tribunal like our proposed one in SA.
Reply
-
