The DA is not all it is cracked up to be
FEMINISTS had been hoping a woman would be elected in a top leadership position at the DA’s provincial congress earlier this month.
It was not meant to be. As with other provinces, KZN followed suit and men were elected in the two top senior positions.
This shows that despite the party’s constitution that promises equality of the sexes, the issue of institutional patriarchy still persists in the DA. It is quite apparent that gender justice is just a myth in the party.
The DA, which boasts an “open opportunity society”, failed dismally to show women as potential leaders.
Interestingly, three women who were once touted as the face of the DA, namely, Helen Zille, Lindiwe Mazibuko and Patricia de Lille, have all fallen foul of the party hierarchy and have been effectively rendered as “nonentities”.
I am certain there are many women in the DA capable of effective and efficient leadership. Are they being sidelined or relegated as part of the chorus of the patriarchal influence in the party?
Had the DA been true to its word and in keeping with its constitution, there would have been many women elected into leadership positions. This has not happened.
And this begs the question: Is the DA really all that it’s cracked up to be?
In a society still rooted in patriarchy, one would have expected the DA to have taken the lead and genuinely transformed its leadership, provincially and nationally.
So, while the DA might want to be perceived as a party for all, its internal working reveals quite another story when it comes to the leadership of males and females.