KWAZULU-NATAL ANCWL WANTS CDE BATHABILE DLAMINI TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT

10 May 2015

The African National Women’s League (ANCWL) in KwaZulu-Natal today concluded its very successful Provincial General Council which amongst other things dealt with crucial policy matters and preparations for the upcoming national women’s league conference.

All this has happened in an atmosphere marked by a strong spirit of comradeship, common purpose and candid discussions which saw more than 400 delegates expressing their views freely as it has been the way of life in our movement for the past 103 years.

Delegates from all eleven regions looked at policy matters to judge whether such policies are being implemented correctly, to assess what changes needed to be made and what gaps to be filled to ensure that the ANCWL continues to champion the interests of women in South Africa and beyond our borders.

Delegates felt that although a lot has been achieved since 1994 in terms of ending women abuse, a lot needs to be done as this scourge still continues to raise its ugly head. To deal with this problem, the PGC called for a massive roll out of temporary shelters for abused women to ensure that they receive necessary professional counselling and ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to book. Members of the ANCWL have also been urged to provide temporary refuge to victims of abuse in their communities.

It was also unanimously agreed that ukuhlola or virginity testing continues to play an important role in ensuring that young women delay their sexual debut thus curbing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Delegates acknowledged that ukuhlola is part of cultural practices that have been passed from generation to generation which has to be respected. They however echoed that virginity testing must continue to be regulated to ensure that it voluntary and that the rights of our young women are not violated.

The PGC also observed that although there has been a plethora of new history books that give a correct history of South Africa, very few people especially young people know their history. As an organisation that believes that history is a crucial succession of events that created us, we feel that this anomaly has to be corrected as a matter of urgency. Delegates therefore called for history to be made a compulsory subject in schools because we believe that knowing our history will help us to build a sense of pride.

The ANCWL will soon hold its national elective conference where thousands of delegates will be afforded the opportunity to elect new leaders. As KwaZulu-Natal, we resolved to throw our weight behind Cde Bathabile Dlamini to become our next ANCWL president. Cde Dlamini is one of our matured and dedicated cadres who is capable of taking the ANCWL to greater heights. The ANCWL in KZN has also nominated the accomplished following comrades for the following positions:

Deputy President: Sisi Ntombela

Secretary General: Meogo Matuba

Deputy Gneral Secretary general: Weziwe Tikane

Treasurer General: Maite Nkoana-Mashabane

Statement issued by Weziwe Thusi, African National Congress Women’s League Acting Secretary, May 10 2015