The ANC prides itself on being a people’s liberation movement and its key objective is to have a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.
This is questionable, especially in light of the nominations for the top six ANC leaders. Kgalema Motlanthe, in his capacity as the chairman of the ANC electoral committee, recently announced the list of candidates based on the calculation and consolidation of the nominations made by the ANC sections.
The ANC’s 55th national conference, from December 16-20, will adopt resolutions on the party’s political and governing positions and, most importantly, elect the more than 80 members of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC). party and its six main leaders, the president, vice president, national president, general secretary, assistant general secretary and general treasurer.
The presidential candidates are Cyril Ramaphosa and Zweli Mkhize, the vice-presidential candidates are Paul Mashatile, Ronald Lamola and Oscar Mabunyane. The position of national president is being contested by Stanley Mathabatha, Gwede Mantashe and David Masondo. The candidates for Secretary General are Mdumiseni Ntuli, Phumulo Masualle and Fikile Mbalula. The candidates for Deputy General Secretary are Nomvula Mokonyane and Febe Potgieter and the candidates for General Treasurer are Benjani Chauke, Pule Mabe and Mzwandile Masina.
Our biggest concern is gender representation in the top six. One position, that of undersecretary, is being contested by two women: Mokonyane and Potgieter.
It is worth noting that the ANC’s gender policy states: “The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory.”
The ANC has made progress in gender representation and inclusion. For example, it has a 50% quota for women’s representation in all decision-making structures, which has contributed to the increase of women in parliament and the executive.
But, since South Africa became a democracy, the ANC’s liberation of women in the NEC has been limited to the six non-top executive posts, except for the post of Under-Secretary.
This excludes serving female executives and those who become a top six by replacing someone who has died, been furloughed, or is fired.
In the pursuit of democracy, in 1994, Cheryl Carolus was the only woman in the top six, holding the position of assistant general secretary. This was repeated in 1997, when Thenjiwe Mtintso became Deputy Secretary General, and in 2002 when Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele was appointed Deputy Secretary General.
It was only during the 2007 and 2012 elective conferences that two of the top six positions were filled by women: Baleka Mbete as National President in both years, and the Deputy General Secretary position was filled by Thandi Modise in 2007 and Jessie Duarte in 2012. .
Just when South Africans thought there was progress, the ANC takes a step back in 2022. In light of this, one must question the effectiveness of the ANC’s 50% quota in ensuring equal representation of women in decision-making structures. of decisions.
The danger of a general quota is that it does not always achieve equal representation. Gender representation is bigger than just getting women into positions, it’s also about them being able to make important decisions or influence high-level decisions, particularly in the top six.
Mokonyane and Potgieter are vying for deputy secretary general, not secretary general or any of the other high-value jobs. Consistently giving women deputy roles reinforces and perpetuates patriarchy.
This perhaps unconscious bias seems to have become ingrained in ANC culture.
Why not take steps to encourage the election of women to the positions of president, vice president, or general treasurer?
It is quite disheartening to see an organization that is supposed to lead, liberate and shape the narrative in the country clinging to regressive behaviour. The struggle and liberation of women has been at the center of many socioeconomic and political issues.
It is evident that the ANC has relegated the fight for gender equality to the ANC Women’s League, whose voice is taken into account mainly on issues of gender violence and gender scandals in the party.
At the launch of the ANC’s Progressive Women’s Movement on August 8, 2006 in Mangaung, Free State, the organization stated: “The patriarchal system in ideology, beliefs, values and practices continues to impact the fabric of society, resulting in unequal power relations between women. and men and the subordination of women in all spheres of life”.
This diagnosis of society was and continues to be enough to encourage the party to be a panacea in solving this problem.
The ANC is a microcosm of society; it is a reflection of the realities of the people. But there is a moral and organizational obligation for the ANC to unlearn these patriarchal tendencies and learn to embrace a gender-inclusive modus operandi as a means of moving people forward.
It can be argued that it is not true that women in the ANC have rejected nominations or refused to support other women who have been nominated, but rather that it is the patriarchal sociological positioning of the organization that creates the belief that the leadership of the top six is synonymous with men.
For example, at the 54th ANC conference, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma ran for president alongside Cyril Ramaphosa. The discontent stemmed more from his association with former President Jacob Zuma than from his leadership skills.
Lindiwe Sisulu has been reduced to being called a “killer queen” or considered erratic in her political decisions on the basis that she decided to compete in the top six without a male-dominated roster.
The ANC needs to embody what the former president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, highlighted: “Mobilizing women is the task, not only of women or only of men, but of all of us, men and women alike, comrades in the fight… There is no way that women, in general, can free themselves without fighting to end the exploitation of man by man, both as a concept and as a social system.”
ANC men must push for the effective inclusion of women in the top six, not just in the mainstream or executive.
When journalists and members of the public considered the question: “Is South Africa ready for a woman president?”, it reflected the silence and inaction of the ANC and other political organizations in supporting women to take office as president.
It is fueling the myths that women cannot lead, despite the fact that women are taking action to bring about social, political and economic change in society. Therefore, the ANC must create an enabling space for women to compete in the top six and win.
The organization should build on its existing structures and members to ensure the meaningful inclusion of women in leadership positions. For example, they could start in higher education institutions with the ANC Youth League, the South African Student Congress and the Young Communist League to ensure that women are effectively represented. These structures must guarantee that the areas in which they have branches free up women to contest political spaces.
This should be the mandate of organizations: reboot and normalize women-led societies.
Subsequently, it is important that the ANC limits the role of finance in the dispute and victory of the elections.
If money is the focus to win elections, it is a disadvantage for most women because many are still economically disadvantaged.
Lastly, the ANC should stop hiding behind this quota system, which is mainly used to relegate women to less significant positions of power, including in executive government structures.
An effective consideration would be a quota system accompanied by the zebra system, in which if the president is a man, the deputy minister must be a woman and vice versa. The ANC must begin to unlearn patriarchy because its control prevents women from becoming leaders.
Karabo Mokgonyana is a development and legal professional and program manager at Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub.
Yolokazi Mfuto is a youth development intern at the United Nations Population Fund Agency.
