Violence against females excused by ANCWL

OBFUSCATION is a word that best describes ANC Women’s League’s president Bathabile Dlamini’s utterances in defence of Deputy Higher Education Minister Mduduzi Manana.

Described in the media as “The Boss from Hell” with a litany of complaints of abuse and violence against women under his employ or in his company, he is pathetically defended by an organisation that is supposed to be speaking and acting on behalf of women.

How absurd is it when it claims in his defence that “there were other senior government leaders who were worse culprits”.

What this implies is that abuse against women must be measured on a continuum of normative acceptable behaviour.

Along this continuum then women need to stand in line to assess the extent of their individual abuse in comparison with others. So in essence, what they are implying is that it is normal for men in political power to abuse women.

Another common obfuscation lies in pulling the race or political card when complaints are received against government officials. The common defence mechanism is rationalisation which places the blame on the complainant and deflects from the complaint.

In this case the ANCWL president dismissed attacks against the deputy minister as politically motivated sentiments.

This thinking absolves the perpetrator from taking any responsibility and obscures the truth. There are several other aspects of this case that are of concern.

First, the portfolio of education is an important pillar of a true democracy. It is more than degrees and certificates and political appointments.

It is about enlightenment, emancipation and sound human values. How can we then have an individual of the calibre of Manana to hold the position of deputy minister of education when he himself does not seem to understand the importance of his role in educating young learners?

What message will he be sending to our vulnerable girls?

The problem is a real one, indeed. On Women’s Day, the nation saw the shocking video of a young girl at the Siyathuthuka Secondary School in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal being tripped and kicked in the head and neck by a fellow pupil. Could our minister have inadvertently been such a role model to the young perpetrator?

The other concern that South Africa should worry about is that women’s issues are secondary to political issues.

Loyalty to the party appears to be more important than human rights issues. In tertiary institutions when women students complained about sexual abuse on the student representative councils, they were invariably warned by their comrades to keep such stories under cover and be loyal to the cause.

Women in exile also harboured stories of abuse by their male comrades but were too scared to speak out against them. The notion of loyalty in situations of conflict can be rationalised for security reasons. Now in a democracy, are we still expected to be silent harbingers of the truth?

In a free and open society, loyalty is for dogs, not thinking humans who should be constantly searching for justice and truth over all else.

The abuse of women cannot be taken lightly; neither should the status of the abuser influence the outcome of judicial justice.

In this regard the deputy minister’s behaviour and that of the league is in need of some serious introspection.

Judging from the stance taken by the ANC Women’s League, a sisterhood does not exist. Women tend on the whole to be more divided than men along political, racial, class, cultural and religious lines.

As powerless victims they tend to embrace their victim status as a given. The socialisation of the girl is so deeply embedded that she becomes her own perpetrator. This situation invariably arises in the context of wife-battering.

Many of us may still recall the case of, a high-ranking politician who was reported as having said “I beat my wife because she would not cook”. His wife was also a high-ranking professional.

The irony of this situation is that the antagonist and protagonists were individuals who ought to have known better and who ought to have been more empowered than most others.

A simple solution to this couple’s problems would have been to hire a cook, since both of them were working. But the real issue is about power dynamics and women’s place in society.

Vocationally, many women are still kept down by paternalistic and protective brothers and fathers, uncles and later sons. In some cases, the battle is blatant and overt. In other cases, the oppression is subtle and enmeshed with strong overtones of what is mistaken for love and concern.

This week at a Women’s Symposium organised by the deputy mayor, Councillor Fawzia Peer, I listened to several hair-raising stories of horrific violence against women.

Looking back on the 21st century, perhaps what will stand out significantly in the urban landscape will be the growing numbers of shelters and homes of safety for abused women and children. In stark contrast is the virtual absence of such shelters for men.

Men do not fear women as women fear men. This is a sad indictment of 21st century living.

Perhaps the women’s league should start attending such functions to open their hearts and minds to real issues that affect their sisters.

Rajab is a columnist and the interim chair of the Democracy Development Programme.