We want women to lead
ANC committed to ensuring women are given opportunities to hone their leadership skills
LAST Friday we marked International Women’s Day to celebrate the achievements of the women’s movement to advance gender equality in social, cultural, economic and political spheres across the globe. The day was adopted by the UN in 1975.
International Women’s Day has its genesis in the labour movement in North America and Europe, and has historically been observed by progressive formations in both the developed and developing world. South Africa observes this day in line with our government’s commitment to progressive internationalism.
South African women have taken significant strides towards achieving gender equality under this government, led by the ANC.
We have great cause to celebrate – having come a long way from a time when women were denied the suffrage, equal opportunity in the workplace, and had their advancement otherwise impeded as a result of culture, religion and other mores.
But with regards to the adequate and effective representation of women across the ANC’s structures, particularly in positions of leadership, we are not where we had hoped to be.
It is men who still dominate the upper echelons of our leadership structures. This is neither a reflection of the demography of South Africa nor of our commitment to the principles of gender equality and non-sexism.
The government we lead has a better track record. Our Cabinet is 46% female. Both houses of Parliament are headed by women. South Africa ranks second out of the G20 countries in terms of women’s representation in Parliament. Thirty-six percent of the seats in South Africa’s superior courts are occupied by women.
When it comes to gender representation, our government fares even better than the private sector, where most skilled posts are still filled by men. Women are underrepresented at executive and board level in nearly all of our major companies, despite amendments to JSE listing requirements to include the promotion of gender diversity.
We need to do an introspection as to what is impeding the succession of women to positions of leadership.
Despite the ANC’s policy that requires women to comprise half of all candidates to deployment lists, historically, it has been men who have been nominated in far greater numbers than women by our structures.
Over time, a number of theories have been put forward, amongst them that party structures reject the ‘determinism’ inferred by a 50/50 gender policy, as it removes their agency in nominating candidates of their choice.
Another theory, that is more of a supposition, is that the 50/50 policy is hamstrung by the dearth of suitably experienced and ‘credentialed’ women leaders, especially at a provincial level.
Another explanation, as difficult though it may be for us to countenance, is that many of our members continue to cling to a patriarchal world view that sees women as note-takers, organisers and community mobilisers, but not as provincial chairpersons, premiers or national office-bearers.
These hard-wired sexist attitudes are what is preventing us as a movement from moving in the direction we want.
It is no longer good enough to blame our shortcomings in this regard on the pernicious influence of patriarchy. We must develop a clear roadmap towards greater representation of women in our organisation’s leadership.
This would entail, amongst other things, mentoring and grooming women for leadership positions, and providing skills training and coaching.
It would also entail ensuring that the voices of women are given opportunities to hone their leadership skills. After all, leaders are made, not born.
The 2019 elections present an opportunity for us as a movement to give effect to our progressive policy on gender representation – the only policy of its kind of all the political parties contesting this year’s polls.
The ANC is a movement dedicated to building a democratic South Africa free from all forms of racism, sexism, xenophobia and hate crime.
What is needed is for us to transform our consciousness, as individual ANC members and as a collective.
There is no place in our movement for sexism and any other forms of chauvinism that relegate capable, loyal and committed cadres to the periphery on account of them being women.
The ANC owes its position to a mandate given to us by our communities. Having more women in positions of leadership in the ANC sends a clear signal that our commitment to gender equality extends beyond rhetoric.
As liberation stalwart Mama Ellen Khuzwayo said in a 1992 interview with the women’s periodical, Speak Magazine, “leaders must come from their own communities and it is women who know their own communities best.”
Ramaphosa is the president of the ANC. This article first appeared in ANC Today