MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ANCWL  Cde Meokgo Matuba following NEC meeting and Lekgotla

The President of the ANCWL, Cde Bathabile Dlamini

The Deputy President of the ANCWL, Cde Sisi Ntombela

The DSG, Cde Weziwe Tikana

The Treasurer-General, Cde Maite Nkoana-Mashabane

Members of the media

Good Afternoon,

It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to first congratulate all the members of the ANCWL for holding a successful conference  in Irene last month. The 12th ANCWL Conference was held in the month of August which commemorates the role played by women in the struggle for the emancipation of our women. The conference marks a new period of our history to RENEW, REORGANISE and REMOBILISE the organization.

1. It is important for the organisation to RENEW its historic mission and objectives for being a reliable and trusted movement and a wing of the ANC, whose main purpose is to defend the fruits of our democracy and the struggle of our people.

2. We need to RE-ORGANISE the ANCWL for organisational rebuilding and unity of purpose as well as enhancing the program of the ANC. ANCWL must be more visible and capable of rallying society behind its banner.

3. It is also important to RE-MOBILISE the entire membership of the ANCWL to be active in organisational work.

We need to RE-AFFIRM the role of the ANCWL in leading a hegemonic women struggle internationally and remaining a beacon of hope for women in different parts of the world.

The 2 750 delegates who were representing the women of this country have spoken. They were clear on the position  of the Women’s League in the African National Congress, its alliance partners and in South Africa as a whole. We need to claim the status of our women within our movement and position  them as leaders, pioneers and vanguards of effective participation of women in the structures of the ANC. It is a fact that out of the 1,2 million members of the ANC, about 800 thousand are women.  The NEC and the Lekgotla has re-affirmed the position of the ANCWL that the time for a woman President is now.

On Friday the 11th September 2015, the first NEC meeting of the WL was convened, followed by a two day Lekgotla. The purpose of this gathering is to draw a road map that will guide the organisation in implementing the conference resolutions.

The 12th National Conference resolved on the following resolutions and the programme of action that were presented and adopted by the NEC and the lekgotla:

1. The importance of the Organisational renewal to ensure resilience of the movement, to enhance a transformation agenda whilst taking into consideration the changing environment.

2. The conference noted with great concern the emergence of foreign tendencies and practices that are destroying the soul and  the fundamental foundation  of the movement. Comrades the women's league will not tolerate the formation of factions and cliques that abuse Organisational resources and membership to advance personal and factional interests.

3. The ANC WL conference has adopted a progressive stance in ideological renewal and building of a new cadre

4. The Conference has noted the characterized entry to leadership positions characterized by divisive leadership battles, negative lobbying, distribution of money and patronage that leads to careerism, corruption and opportunism.

5. As a matter of urgency, the conference resolved on the necessary leadership cadre development programme linked to the ANC political education programme, anchored on the Organisational policies, values and traditions.

6. The conference has put a strong emphasis on strengthening the ANC Women's League branches and other structures of the movement.

7. The Conference has also resolved on the enhancement of the administrative and governing capacity of the ANCWL to enable the organisation to deliver its mandate effectively.

8. The Conference emphasized the importance of access to health care given our belief that health is a great contributor to sustainable development and critical in advancing radical socio-economic transformation and cannot be overlooked over other socio-economic factors.

9. The Conference noted the achievements by Government in ensuring that every child has access to education, however the quality of our education still needs attention.

10. The ANC WL league will advocate for an inclusive approach in dealing with challenges  in the education sector that will enable teachers, leadership, society and parental involvement.

11. The conference deliberated on a number of issues that threaten social security and transformation in society.

12. Conference noted with great concern the increase of violent attacks against police officers and identified the link between scarcity of economic activities to crime.

13. The ANC WL affirmed the definition of gender based violence as not exclusively violence against women, it also includes men, lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender.

14. The ANC WL is greatly concerned that the violence against women and children remain very high and there is no evidence of decline as a result calls on Government to audit and ensure that the quality of various services offered at one-stop centers is improved and Forensic nurses and medical professionals training program must be strengthened and expanded to provide both quality caring services and be of service to the justice system.

15. The WL firmly states that the custom of Ukuthwala must be abolished as it constitutes an injustice to women and girl-children, that is a violation of human rights and basic freedom as enshrined in the constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

16. The ANC WL acknowledges that the triple exploitation of women in society has been reduced but yet to be completely eliminated and that poverty, unemployment and inequality affect women the most and have been identified by the ANC as serious impediment to radical transformation.

17.The WL has noted that the mainstream economy still continues to be dominated by men whilst women continue to play in the informal space.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media

The first NEC meeting of the Women’s League elected members of the National Working Committee. The following comrades were elected:

Candith Mashego-Dlamini

Tokozile  Xasa

Pinky Kekana

Barei Segotso

Makhosi Ntuli

Judy Hermans

Beauty Dlulane

Mamiki Qabathe

Makoma Makhurupetji

Nonhlanhla Ndaba-Ncube

We commit to support them in their areas of work.

The Lekgotla of the ANC Women’s League resumed yesterday and women spoke with one voice that the unity of the organization is important. We must position the organisation as the voice and the hope of women in South Africa. The Lekgotla started with the induction of the NEC and Provincial Executive Committees and Task Teams. The objectives of this session were:

1. To develop a common and coherent understanding of the challenges faced by women on our provinces and within the organisation

2. To enhance our understanding of the broad strategic objectives and values of the ANC and the role of the Women’s league in ensuring their  realisation

3. To develop an understanding of the broad theoretical framework that underpins the existence and the functioning of the ANC as a movement

4. To develop and understanding of the qualities required in the leadership of the ANCWL, and

5. To develop a framework for the National ANCWL programme of action.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This work cannot be done if we do not go out and listen to our women. We need to make young women and women of all races regardless of their social status to feel that they have a home in the ANCWL. We need to make them genuinely know and understand that the struggles of women are the same and we should not be apologetic about wanting to destroy patriarchy in all its forms. We then resolved that the young women’s desk should be resuscitated  and prioritised. We need to educate all our women in their different disciplines to understand what we mean when we speak of patriarchy. We will be able to achieve and reclaim our gains if we stand together through political educational programs.

The ANC National General Council Discussion Documents are at this lekgotla for the Women’s league to make inputs. We encourage ANC WL branches to participate in the ANC branch discussions throughout the period leading to the NGC.

Forward to the radical transformation of Women’s socio-Economic Rights.

Issued by ANCWL Secretary-General Meokgo Matuba, 13 September 2015