I write on behalf of the women accused of betraying comrade Winnie Madikizela-Mandela during her tenure as president of the ANC Women's League. None of us resigned because we were led by a criminal, as purported in the public domain. Yes, we resigned, but it is important to clarify that we did so for different reasons.
It is with great respect to the family that we raise this while we are still mourning our beloved mother and comrade. It is against our culture as Africans to be discussing controversial issues while mourning the departed. It is also saddening that comrade Winnie's legacy has been hijacked for nefarious reasons, when our culture dictates otherwise. We also feel it is rather unfortunate that lies are being peddled in the name of comrade Winnie as we would have wished her to rest in eternal peace.
The period we went through in the rebuilding of the ANC and the ANC Women's League was the most difficult. The enemy intensified its inhumane killing machinery and counter-insurgency during this time. Bringing together individuals who had previously played different roles during the unbanning period of the ANC was one of the most complex tasks, but we ultimately succeeded.
It is therefore unfortunate that we are today accused of resigning from the women's league's national executive committee because we refused to be led by a criminal and therefore sold comrade Winnie to the enemy. As widely reported, yes we resigned - but for reasons that had nothing to do with her criminal record or lack thereof.Some of us insisted to the ANC leadership in exile that she be part of the leadership structures of both the ANC and ANCWL back home. Her participation was important to us because our sole purpose at the time was to rebuild, resuscitate and unite the women.
None of us who resigned ever insinuated or said that comrade Winnie was a criminal. After all, she was never found guilty in any court of law during this time. Therefore, we had no basis on which to perceive her as a criminal.
We advocated against the isolation of Mama Winnie when the Mass Democratic Movement took the decision to distance itself from her. We instead incorporated her into the task team tasked with rebuilding the women's league when we got back into the country - we dare say to the irritation of many.
We worked well with comrade Winnie, and this culminated in the first conference of the women's league in Kimberley in 1991, where she was elected as an additional member of the ANCWL NEC. Throughout this period we successfully united women and established a National Women's Coalition. This coalition brought together all the women of South Africa and contributed to the drafting of the interim constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
When we went to the second conference of the league, in December 1993, comrade Winnie was elected president of the women's league. It was after this conference in 1994 that we started experiencing signs of tension emanating from disagreements on how we worked. We sometimes had different views on tactics when addressing certain issues. This is not peculiar to the ANC, or any democratic organisation for that matter. In all our engagements we were raising issues which were beyond personalities yet had far-reaching implications for the women's league and our cause as an organisation.
At the very first executive committee meeting we were accused of having met in Welkom to plot against comrade Winnie, an accusation that had all the hallmarks of the Stratcom propaganda machinery hellbent on sowing disunity among us by planting misinformation, lies and false accusations about some of us, especially those in the leadership. It was obvious from then on that we were no longer working on the basis of trust, and this had a negative impact on our work as the women's league.
Instead of paralysing the work of the league, we felt it was the ethical and wise thing for us to resign under the circumstances at the time. Even after resigning, we continued to serve the ANC and women's league. Our commitment and loyalty to the organisation hasn't wavered to this day.
• Written by ambassador Mavivi Yvette Myakayaka-Manzini, on behalf of 1. Baleka Mbete, 2. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, 3. Nomvula Mokonyane, 4. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, 5. The late Adelaide Tambo, 6. Lindiwe Zulu, 7. Ruth Mompati, 8. Nomatyala Hangani, 9. Kedibone Gumbi, and 10. Hilda Ndude..