ANC Women’s League has become the “Zuma Defence League”
13 April 2016
The ANC Women’s League’s statement calling for the country to “listen closely and attentively”has once again demonstrated the extent to which the ANC will abandon the plight of women in the quest to rehabilitate Jacob Zuma’s embattled reputation as President of South Africa. The ANCWL is a shadow of its former self and to this end has been reduced to a “Zuma Defence League”.
In a statement earlier today, the Women’s League justifies its silence for not speaking out against injustices they witnessed as “forgiving but not forgetting”. It has been the habit of the ANC to sit in the comfort and luxury of injustice at the expense of the millions of poor and unemployed South Africans, as well as in opposition to the Constitution.
The ANCWL went further to baselessly attack the Public Protector, stating that it “demands a more objective and less populist person who will campaign against government and its people but defend principles of the structures.” This is deeply ironic considering that Adv Madonsela’s work has been consistently thwarted at every turn when she acts to advance the values the ANCWL purport are important.
What the ANCWL should be talking about are the very serious challenges facing woman across the country – sexual harassment, rape, gender based violence and the like. This should be the preoccupation of the ANCWL – they should be fighting for the rights of women, not protecting a president who has no respect for the Constitution or the law.