A wildfire of protests have seemingly spread across southern Africa as Namibia becomes the latest nation to march against government corruption. On Thursday last week, hundreds of Namibian youth came out en masse in the capital, Windhoek, to protest against plans by the country’s parliament to build a new parliament building. School children, some as young as five years old, flouted a directive by Namibia’s Education Minister for students to stay in school, and instead joined in the protest. The mood seemed right as but a few miles away, South Africa was marking the 40th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, a historical event that was inspired by youth.

For a country where almost 30 percent of its population lived below the poverty line, and just about that amount lived on $1 per day, Namibia’s plan of building a new parliament at this time seems like a pretty bad idea, especially when it is going to cost around N$ 2.2 billion (about 145 million US dollars). Namibian political analyst, Abraham Kanti, called it “shocking” for the Namibian government to go on with such plans. “…We still have people who go to bed with empty stomachs. We still have some school kids who are getting education under trees, in tents, yet we call them the leaders of tomorrow,” he said, among many things.

Some of these school children could be seen joining in the protests on the streets of Windhoek on Thursday as bystanders egged them on. Protesters were singing “Senzeni Na” meaning “What have we done”, a South African anti-apartheid protest song. It seemed strange for one to be singing over a protest against a likely misappropriation of funds, but again, considering what has been happening in South Africa recently, it looks just about right.

Namibia, gaining its independence from then Apartheid-ruled South Africa in 1990, seems to be fighting the same demons of corruption as South Africa. There were protests last year in South Africa, and chief among them was the #ZumaMustFall protests. Thousands of South Africans took to the streets to protest against corruption in President Jacob Zuma’s government, demanding for him to step down. For the first time since the end of apartheid, many South Africans thronged the streets to protest something other than apartheid (though the other #MustFall protests show that maybe apartheid is not dead.) And it looks like the same is happening in Namibia.

Other southern African countries, with their ghosts of apartheid, are going through one identity crisis or another. Angola, a nation that helped greatly in the anti-apartheid fight in South Africa, has since been bedevilled by the kleptocratic rule of one man, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Recent arrests of Angolan activists and the installation of his daughter as Head of the State’s oil firm have been the topic of discussion in his country, amidst the rumblings of protests and demonstrations. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s recent devaluation crisis means perhaps, Mugabe’s time at the helm is getting closer to the end. Winds of protests might finally push him off his seat as president. Anti-apartheid movements have always stood for something; the pressing need for change. Maybe, just maybe, the resurrection of its spirit in some parts of southern Africa will, in this modern times, be enough to unseat corrupt and incompetent leaders.

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