Statement on the occasion of ANCWL Ordinary National Executive Committee Meeting

29 July 2024

The African National Congress Women's League convened its ordinary National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on 27-28 July 2024 at Hotel Sky in Sandton, Johannesburg. This NEC is the first to be convened following the electoral loss of an outright majority by the African National Congress. Although the decline in electoral support does not signal a defeat to the liberation project, it does however mark a setback to our pursuit of the National Democratic Revolution.

As the largest organisation of South African women, and a league of a liberation movement, we have a revolutionary obligation to assess the outcomes and aftermath of the National and Provincial Elections. The NEC meeting examined the political landscape that led to us receiving only forty percent (40%) Of electoral support in the recent elections. The NEC meeting acknowledged that the loss of an outright majority by the ANC in elections risks the reversal gain the ANC-led government has made in the past 30 years as it pertains to the emancipation and liberation of women. This may have effect on legislations that will get passed in parliament, as well as policies that may get implemented in different spheres of society as well the representation of women in positions of leadership across all sectors. The ANC is the only political organisation in South Africa that adheres to the principle of gender parity in everything it does.

We also wish to applaud and commend all women who have been elected to serve as Portfolio Committee Chairpersons and Whips in the National Assembly and various legislatures in all nine provinces. The NEC also welcomes and with pride congratulates Justice Mandisa Maya for the appointment at the apex court of our country, the Constitutional Court, as Chief Justice of South Africa. History truly beckoned, and we are very pleased to witness the appointment of Justice Maya as the black woman to be appointed Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.

Justice Maya is no stranger to such stellar achievements, having been the first black woman to serve in the Supreme Court of Appeal, as well as the court's first woman deputy president and first woman president.

Although the ANC-led government has had some shortcomings and challenges, both internally and due to external influences as well; it has never abandoned its fundamental responsibility as a liberation movement to advance social transformation and address the socio-economic challenges faced by our people. Our country continues to be plagued by appalling statistics of unemployment and horrifying incidents of domestic violence suffered by women and children, usually at the hands of their male counterparts.

The NEC reflected on the many cases of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), and cases of women and girls going missing. One of the notable cases is of a thirty-one (31) year old man in Philippi, Cape Town, who mercilessly killed his mother. This incident is part of a disturbing trend of violence against women across the country and illustrated that GBVF knows no biological relations and therefore no woman is safe, even from their own children.

These horrendous episodes of violence against women are not only an attack on women but also on our democracy, corroding the moral and social fabric of our non-sexist and non-racial society. Therefore, as the ANCWL we persistently call for expediting of the implementation of the legislated National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, in order for it to swiftly coordinate efforts to end this scourge.

The NEC meeting also received a presentation from the ANC on the Government of National unity framework, which delved into further detail on how the government of the 7 t' administration would work, and the impact that would have on the course the ANC has set out for the liberation project and the NDR since the first democratic elections 30 years ago. The ANCWL NEC reaffirms its unwavering commitment to advancing decisive action towards the full liberation and emancipation of women. We also wish to applaud the Olympics games who have for the first time since their founding a century ago, have a 50/50 representation of women participating in this year's games. This is truly commendable and hope this practice will continue for the lifetime of the games. We also wish to reiterate our solidarity with the people of Palestine and call for the withdrawal for Israel in the Olympics games until they stop their occupation of Gaza and subjugation and killing of the Palestinian people.

MALIBONGWE!!!

Issued by Nokuthula Nqaba, ANCWL Secretary-General, 29 July 2024