Pity the president of the ANC Women’s League … for the sister truly reigns in troubled times.
As if presiding over a government department crippled by scandal, ineptitude and general chaos wasn’t trying enough, along comes the added humiliation of being stabbed in the back by one’s own.
Or should one rather say struck by one’s own rock … those legendary rocks the ANCWL is so fond of threatening the world with every year Women’s Day comes around.
You know the refrain: ”U-thint abafazi u-thint imbokodo!” ”Onse” Nosiviwe should have known: ”You strike a woman, you strike a rock!”
Only this time, the rocks mutinied — they just wouldn’t be cajoled or bullied in the name of the fabled sisterhood. This time, they were striking back.
They felled with a hail of stones all who blathered about electing a ”sister” to represent them at that most hallowed of upcoming gatherings on the political calendar — Polokwane.
Everyone knows of the mutiny in the rocks that has turned Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula into a poster girl for feminism gone awry.
Her constituents chose to back a man in his bid for the country’s presidency, instead of (we were told) a far more capable and ”representative” female candidate.
Out of the woodwork came crawling all the ”I told you so” prophets of doom, who wait for the slightest opportunity to crow on about feminism being a sham. This, they will say, only proves that women will always, ultimately, back their ”true master” when it comes to important matters such as running a country.
With it came a chorus of ”bitter” and ”disappointed” sisters who see in the ANCWL decision no less than a shocking betrayal. Exhaustive and emotional pieces have been penned to the newspapers, telling of their anguish at this unsisterly conduct. Marches have been held, slogans shouted and petitions handed over.
But isn’t it naive grandstanding? Who are the real feminists? Those who throw their full rocky weight behind whoever they believe to be the right person for the job? Or those who think that by mere virtue of being women, politicians elected to high office will immediately place women’s rights and the advancement of a ”women-friendly agenda” high on the government’s list of priorities?
It is all very well to say women’s rights will receive greater attention under a presidency of one of the two female contenders to the throne, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka or Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
After all, their well-polished CVs are awash with gender credentials such as ”attended international women’s conference” and ”served on gender and planning committee”.
It is easy to claim to have served on one or other ”board” or to have drafted a document. But if the esteemed ladies have really done so much for the women of this country, why is the local women’s movement (if it can be said to exist) still bleating on about what a long way we have to go?’
One really has to wonder: the men in power didn’t have a great track record — but do the women?
International experience offers a rather chequered picture. Assessing women in the upper echelons of government, there are a good few examples where they fared no better than the men, and had no gender-friendly agenda to speak of.
Can any serious, self-respecting feminist truly believe the likes of Condoleezza Rice has brought light to the lives of the women of, say, the Middle East? What about Indira Gandhi? Or Margaret Thatcher, who famously said: ”I owe nothing to women’s lib.”
And those women leaders who have in fact promoted women-friendly governance … er … somebody? Anybody?
Closer to home, it would be an even longer stretch of the imagination to argue that Manto Tshabalala- Msimang has brought smiles to the faces of indigent HIV-infected women in rural South Africa.
Locally and internationally, one has yet to see any conclusive proof that having a woman head of state has meant the pursuit of a feminist agenda in the corridors of power.
The hopelessly romantic mob gynocentricism that is ready to tar and feather the ANCWL and its president could do with less of the tired slogan chanting and a bit more intellectual honesty.
It is good and well to throw accusations of ”patriarchy puppet” at the league, but how about giving some honest, supported reasons for why the women ”alternatives” are up to the job, or really serve women’s interests, in power or out of it.
Adding a feminine touch to governance, dear sisters, must surely be about more than having scented soaps in the guest loo at Tuynhuys …