No simple route to power for SA women

02 August 2015 - 02:01 By Edna Molewa

The gender gap is closing, but it is premature for the Women’s League to talk about leadership positions when patriarchal attitudes still prevail, writes stalwart Edna Molewa. The days following the ANC Women's League announcing the date of its national conference, August 4, have seen the usual outcry regarding the ostensibly tenuous future of the organisation.story_article_left1A particularly popular (and predictable) theme has been whether the women's league will be fielding a female candidate for the highest office: a highly irregular suggestion that shows ignorance of the established, democratic (and regulated) internal practices and processes of the ANC.Such divisive reports, which are heavily reliant on anonymous sources, seek to pit the league against the party of which it forms part, in the process manufacturing divisions and fissures between the ANC and "bo-mme" (the women).The women's league has repeatedly affirmed that building organisational leadership is among many subjects up for discussion at the conference.We have repeatedly called on our members, the public and all interested stakeholders to engage with us in the lead-up to the conference.All the conference policy papers have been up on our website since earlier this year.One also reads about "women's league members", who "did not want to be named", alleging that the names of potential candidates for the presidency and deputy presidency of the country are being circulated.As anyone with a modicum of understanding of history knows, this is not the way things are done in the women's league and, indeed, in the ANC itself. We reject the tactic of individuals seeking to sow divisions by taking gossip to the media under the cover of anonymity.story_article_right2If such discussions are in fact taking place, it's high time these allegedly boisterous discussion leaders went public. Such stories are neither new nor original, and are seldom attributable. It is doubtful whether they are true.As we have repeatedly had to explain, the women's league is not an opposition party but an integral part of the ANC, whose policies and processes we adhere to. All our discussion documents are fully aligned with the constitution of the ANC.As a result, it once again becomes necessary to clarify that enabling female candidates for any position to gain full party backing on an electoral platform can indeed be done, but it necessitates first dealing with and dismantling patriarchal attitudes, sometimes even of women themselves.A number of resolutions adopted at the women's league policy conference and discussed by branches in December provide a road map for us to empower the current generation of female leadership and grow a younger breed of female leaders.By strengthening and bolstering female leadership, the ultimate goal would be steadily swelling the ranks of women leaders to put forward for positions - within the league, the ANC, the government and the country. The reality, however, is that social, economic, class and cultural impediments to the advancement of women still exist and result in men being elected over women time and again in even the most progressive of institutions and state apparatuses.mini_story_image_vleft1It is worth noting that the paths to power for women in the oldest and most advanced democracies in the world have nearly always followed a similar trajectory - either rising through the ranks of a party, filling positions vacated by senior male members, or, rightfully so, as a result of affirmative action policies.Arguably the most influential woman in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, became secretary-general of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, before being appointed chancellor three years later. Merkel's road to the chancellery took nearly two decades, in a 144-year-old republic. Bangladesh, which has had not one but two female prime ministers, first elected a woman in 1996, a quarter of a century after the country was founded.The 239-year-old US is yet to elect a woman president.None of this implies, however, that the women of South Africa should wait for centuries before rising to positions of senior leadership. The number of female MPs and cabinet ministers in South Africa, among the highest in the world, is evidence that we have long begun closing the gender gap.The women's league will continue to push for the interests of women across strata in society.We encourage our members not to be drawn into polarising, manufactured debates.Molewa is the ANC Women's League head of communications. Follow her on Twitter @BEMolewa..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.