Lessons from the ANC Women’s League Conference

Lessons from the ANC WL Conference

….ANC WL Congress- the good, the bad and the ugly

By Mlondolozi Ndlovu

Last week the South African ruling party the African National Congress (ANC), Women’s League (WL) held its congress in Irene, Pretoria, in which the South African liberation movement’s women chose their national leadership.

Among other political parties that were invited for this event was our own ruling party ZANU PF.

Considering the historical ties that Zimbabwe and South Africa share there are a lot of lessons that Zimbabwe’s largest and longest serving political party ZANU PF, fractured opposition parties and dozens of new parties sprouting every day in Zimbabwe can draw lessons from.

While African politics has been said to be generally the same, there is a lot that can be learnt from the way ANC conducts its intra-party election business and the just ended congress is one such special event.

First and foremost the essence of democracy lies with competition of political party members who must be able to choose freely a candidate of their choice without anyone dictating that so and so has been ‘endorsed’.

A look at the pre, during and post ANC WL congress period will prove that the ANC are by far the most democratic revolutionary party in Southern Africa if not the rest of Africa and their way of doing business ought to be emulated.

The real contest for the Women’s League Chair was between the incumbent who is SA’s Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga and Bathabile Dlamini who is the Minister of Social Development.

Democracy was indeed at work as these ANC leaders publicly campaigned and were all subjected to public scrutiny by the members of their own.

Unlike what we saw in Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF last year where the Main Wing, Youth League and Women’s league are made to accept appointed and ‘endorsed’ candidates just because they are closer to the President or the wife to the President, South African ANC members chose what they wanted.

Secondly the South African ANC President Zuma even advised the women that while campaign was healthy they was need for them to force substantive policy issues towards the run up to the congress.

A closer look at home will prove that towards the ZANU PF congress, the President strongly focused on Gamatox versus Weevil wars forgetting that the masses want policies that will improve their livelihood not slogans!

A good point to take note of is how the outgoing Motshekga had the audacity to tell the male figures in the ANC that it was not their business to be dictating who wins or runs the ANC.

Back home, in the run up to the women’s league congress the incumbent Oppah Muchinguri followed the bandwagon, we did not hear her complain how factions hustled to take control of the women’s league.

The nature, in which Bathabile Dlamini won the elections through transparent voting, was so respectful such that one wonders whether that could have been the reason why ZANU PF’ s Women League boss Grace Mugabe chose to assign her deputy Eunice Sandi-Moyo to what could have been a ‘democratic learning process’ for her ‘new’ career.

Maybe ANC standards are too democratic to her levels, such that she resisted attending such an eye opening function.

Again, the ANC WL conference was not a rubberstamping event for the women leaders.

People voted and no one was endorsed like we saw in Mazoe and other centres last year where youths, women, traders and war veterans were bussed to ‘endorse’ a candidate for a women’s league.

The other thing that the ‘revolutionary’ ZANU PF party can learn from this big event is that the congress is not time for bootlicking and praise singing for the leader.

Those who followed this event will agree with me that the ANC WL was in a mood of solving their own issues, no amount of praises were showed to Zuma despite him being the President.

The fundamental lesson that one can draw from this event is how the ANC has not criminalised ambition, something which is healthy for democracy.

This was demonstrated through the bold statements by the new Women’s League Chair who promised that her new task would be to making sure she grooms a woman President for South Africa.

Though there are good lessons from this event, a closer observation proves that, like in Zimbabwe the ANC invited only liberation movements.

Though this is to some extent justified because of the history that these parties share but there is need for the ANC to invite even opposition parties from different countries so that they see what democracy entails.

Their system of transparent voting at party congresses is very rare in Africa where leaders most often impose ‘puppet’ leaders to perpetuate their longevity in power.

However whether it was by co-incidence or what one realises that there is still the scourge of regionalism something which has not changed in African politics.

During Mbeki’s time most of the women’s league leaders were Xhosa something which has changed with all leaders now coming from the Zulu tribe.

Such tendencies are not worthy being copied as tribalism is a serious evil that divides a nation and leads to inept tribesman/women taking over office at the expense of competent individuals.

When all has been said the ANC Women’s League conference proved that democracy is still possible in Africa and there is nothing bad about handing over power.

I hope Sandi Moyo copied down notes for lessons to her boss and the entire ZANU PF structures so they can learn since it’s a ‘year of learning’!

Mlondolozi Ndlovu is a Media expert and analyst based in Harare.