Sonke Gender Justice has called for disciplinary proceedings against ANC national chairperson and Mineral and Petroleum Minister Gwede Mantashe over crude remarks that he made when questioned about allegations that municipal councillors in a North West mining town demand sex from women in exchange for jobs.
The non-profit, which works to advance gender equality and prevent gender-based violence, has demanded an unconditional public apology to the journalist who questioned Mantashe the women affected and women across South Africa, as well as an investigation into the allegations against the councillors.
Sonke’s call follows an earlier intervention by the ANC Women’s League on 19 October
for Mantashe to apologise and face disciplinary action over his response to the Newzroom Afrika journalist.
During an interaction in the North West at the weekend, Mantashe was asked about allegations that a municipal councillor had demanded sexual favours from women seeking employment.
“Don’t involve me in issues of asking for a vagina. This person asked for his vagina from a person that he encountered. This can’t be an ANC issue,” he said, according to reports by IOL and TimesLIVE.
He added that councillors who used their positions to sleep with people were behaving badly, but argued that this was not an ANC issue.
Sonke said the remarks trivialised sexual extortion, degraded women and the journalist, and fell short of the standard expected of a senior political leader.
“Demanding sex in exchange for employment is an abuse of power and may constitute corruption under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act,” the organisation said. “It is not consensual ‘bad behaviour’; it is exploitation and gender-based violence.”
Sonke backed the ANC Women’s League’s description of the remarks as “gratuitously improper”, “derogatory” and “deeply disturbing”.
The organisation said the journalist had asked a legitimate public interest question about exploitation and abuse of power and deserved a substantive answer.
It also pointed to previous criticism of Mantashe over remarks in which he told men to use their “God-given sticks” instead of assaulting women, saying his latest comments reflected a broader pattern of behaviour.
Sonke said Mantashe’s response was inconsistent with non-sexism as a founding value of the ANC and the Constitution.
The organisation has called for the ANC to institute formal disciplinary proceedings, investigate the allegations against the councillors and refer evidence of criminal conduct to law enforcement. It said implicated councillors should be suspended where warranted.
It also wants ANC national executive committee members, councillors and deployees to undergo mandatory gender-sensitivity training before the 4 November local government elections.
Mantashe responded to calls for an apology on Wednesday, telling the SABC, “I’m apologising, but I don’t know what I must apologise for.” He maintained that isiXhosa linguists agreed that there was nothing wrong with his remarks.
However, the ANCWL issued a further statement on Thursday, calling Mantashe’s behaviour “uncouth” and saying that the minister “should not be allowed to vulgarise our language.
“Instead of acknowledging the need to apologise, he responded with theatrics, feigning ignorance. This further reinforces his primitive and unrefined allusions to women.”
Sonke said the responsibility for sexual exploitation lay with those who abused women and those who dismissed that exploitation.
“GBV does not begin and end with physical assault,” the organisation said. “It flourishes where women are objectified, demeaned and silenced.”