TotalShutDown taken to task
The ANC Women’s League’s young women desk yesterday lambasted the TotalShutDown movement accusing its organisers of being obsessed with targeting the league and its president Bathabile Dlamini ahead of government’s conference on gender-based violence next month.
The league was responding to TotalShutDown organisers’ media statement on Monday on the Timothy Omotoso rape trial in the High Court in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, which Dlamini attended and held a press conference thereafter.
TotalShutDown accused Dlamini and the league of “political posturing and covert electioneering campaigning” and undermining the fight against gender-based violence.
The league’s secretary-general Meokgo Matuba said TotalShutDown has degenerated to being antiwomen’s league and making Dlamini “their scapegoat”’.
Matuba said: “They have made it their core business to victimise and humiliate president Bathabile Dlamini since they entered the space as a group.
“They seek to derive strength in insulting and rubbishing the ANCWL. It is difficult to understand why a group which confesses itself to be prowomen, finds it so easy to be petty amidst a case that must unite all women.”
The two organisations have been at loggerheads over anything concerning women and girls’ rights. During the countrywide marches against gender-based violence organised by TotalShutDown in August, the league opted not to join any of the marches and instead marched alone to ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters in downtown Johannesburg.
Matuba accused the group of “factionalising” the upcoming gender violence summit set for two days in November. “This same group has highly factionalised the preparations of the government gender-based violence summit.
“We’ve raised our concerns officially with the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa and await feedback in this regard.
“We refuse to be drawn into a petty battle with a woman grouping when patriarchy is arrogantly silencing women who want to speak out against the men who abuse them. Ours is to give violated women confidence and encourage them to speak out against rape, rape culture, gender-based violence and patriarchy.” – ANA