What would Mama Albertina say to Cyril?

DEAR MR PRESIDENT, The ANC and indeed all South Africans laud you and the government you lead for the countrywide public tributes to the life of Mama Albertina Sisulu during this the year of her centenary.

You had planned to visit Mama’s gravesite on her birthday, October the 21st, but were unable to attend owing to conflicting commitments. Nevertheless, the gesture was appreciated.

We recognise and are ever mindful that declaring 2018 the year of both Tata Madiba and Mama Sisulu was deliberate. It is testament to the ANC’s commitment to gender equality that we commemorate both these global icons who had immense stature both in our country and beyond.

This year we also mark the centenary of South Africa’s oldest women’s organisation, the Bantu Women’s League, formed in 1918 under the leadership of Dr Charlotte Maxeke.

Mr President, we have a collective and shared responsibility to use Mama Sisulu’s year-long centennial celebration as a platform to refocus the attention of the nation, on the plight and rights of women and to assess the progress we have made since 1994.

We mark the birth of Mama Sisulu in the face of a scourge of gender-based violence in South Africa and worrying instances of women being deprived their constitutional rights in the workplace, home, communities, places of worship and even on the streets.

This causes one to give pause and wonder if Mama Sisulu were alive today, what would her impression be of what our country’s girls and women have to endure on a near-daily basis?

One imagines her exclaiming in that carefree but firm voice that commanded so much respect: “Hey, wena Mongameli, what is wrong with the men of this country? Are your egos so fragile that you have to oppress and hurt us women?”

There is no doubt she would be disgusted with the stubborn prevalence of patriarchy in traditional and modern communities; the harassment and objectification of women in the media; rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls; the humiliation and “slut shaming” of young women on social media platforms and the pulling down of successful and independent women.

I imagine her looking you straight in the eye and demanding: “Speak up and speak out, comrade President! Remind our men, and our women that the issue of women’s oppression isn’t a discussion for Women’s Day or the 16 Days of Activism.”

Mama Sisulu would remind you of the ANC’s founding values and its commitment to advancing gender equality. She would remind you that women have served our movement as cadres, fighters, leaders and activists; and that she expects all women to enjoy freedom.

She would lament the dearth of radical feminism inside the ANC. She would be saddened to see that when called upon to support women, especially women who accused ANC men of inappropriate behaviour, and even abuse, the ANC has been found to be unsure, hesitant and wanting.

Mr President, she would ask you to tell the men of South Africa, to “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!”

The best honour to Mama Sisulu will be to defeat patriarchy and all its manifestations. Malibongwe, Comradely Yours, Pule Mabe.