Mama Adelaide Tambo joins the ancestors. Mama Adelaide was a leading member of the African National Congress Women's League and the wife of the late Oliver Tambo, the former acting President of the ANC.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Women's emancipation guarantees our freedom
"The emancipation of women is not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory." President Samora Machel
This coming Monday, 9th August 2010, women of our country together with the masses of our people will observe the 54th Anniversary of that great women's march to the Union Buildings then a seat of a racist and undemocratic government. In moments like this, it is important for us as members of the African National Congress (ANC), as revolutionaries, to pause a moment and reflect on where we are coming from. We should pose a question, are we still on the right path to realize our strategic objectives?
Our Strategy and Tactics document defines our past as follows; "South Africa's colonial experience was based on the intersection of relations of power based on class, race and gender. These social and/or biological features have been used in human history to exclude, to repress and to stymie the progress of individuals and communities".
Colonialism and apartheid aimed at imposing to both African women and men a mentality of inferiority complex, to look down on anything that has its origin from African societies. Secondly, it emphasized the status of being a permanent minor of women. Finally, sexual discrimination was embedded in the overall system of exploitation.
From the beginning of industrialisation African women were relegated to a position which had ever-spreading disadvantages. They were to fulfil their traditional role as bearers of children. They were to work on the land to supplement the low wages of the male migrants. They were to be denied the gradual access to paid employment that would normally have provided them with a new status in a changing society.
South African women, black (African, Coloured and Indian) and white, lived in a society that was not only racist, but also deeply sexist. The racialism and sexism were intertwined. Sexism in South Africa was not only prevalent in cultural attitudes, but was embedded in the legal institutions. Life roles were laid down at birth, in the first place by skin colour, in the second place by sex and finally by economic class. To an overwhelming extent the child's whole life, her education, her possibility of achievement, jobs and status, as well as everything affecting her personal relations, was predetermined by these three factors.
This was a norm to both women as well as men, but it was applied most forcibly to African women. Sexual and racial discrimination condemn them to the bottom of the pile; on their backs rests a vast superstructure of law and of custom, in which the habits and institutions of an old, pastoral society were cemented into a modern industrialised state.
Black women in South Africa suffered from a three-fold oppression: as blacks; as women; and as workers who largely formed a reserve army of cheap labour. The three strands are interlaced. Women recognized that, they cannot change the immediate conditions of their lives without fighting against the restrictions on, free movement or access to education, both of which were controlled by apartheid laws.
Migrant labour deeply disrupted the lives of South African women. The system itself made it virtually illegal for many African women to live with their husbands, except during the annual two-week holiday when migrant workers may go to visit their wives in the Bantustans. It made a mockery of family life, creating an impassable chasm between husband and wife.
The pass laws bore even more heavily on African women than on African men. Not only do they need this male consent to leave home or to work in another place. African women remained outside the pass laws framework until 1952 and their struggle against the pass laws, beginning in 1913 ensured the delay in the extension of passes to African women up until 1952. Before the 1950s, African women did not have to carry passes. Nevertheless, it was still more difficult for women than for men to move to the expanding towns, largely because of employment practices and restrictions on the provision of family housing.
The majority of people who reside in rural areas were women living in the Bantustans. They suffered disabilities in virtually every facet of their existence, an existence to which they were bound by a complex interlacing of customary and common law, together with the fact that, unlike men, they were less able to escape by going to the cities.
In South Africa, as in many other African countries, women make up the bulk of the agricultural workforce where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. Women also suffered from the land hunger endemic in the Bantustans. The shortage of land to support the population has been aggravated by the resettlement in the Bantustans of Africans who have been forcibly evicted from the cities, from the 'black spots' and white farm areas.
Not only were there few jobs for women living in the Bantustans, but there were barriers to obtaining work. Restrictions were imposed on their mobility, both by law and by the household responsibilities that, unlike the men, they cannot discard. Widows were afraid to leave their homes to seek work, as they would lose what rights they may have had to cultivate family land. There were few secondary industries in the Bantustans. Many of the women, having been denied access to education, were not only illiterate but frequently unable to speak either English or Afrikaans, an obstacle to all but the most unskilled physical labour.
African women in rural areas had heavy and often lonely responsibilities. The lives of most of them were defined by poverty, unemployment and landlessness and this was reflected in the diseases suffered by them and by those they were responsible for. Women who were minors cannot own property in their own right, enter into contracts without the aid of their male guardian, or act as guardians of their own children. They were virtually perpetual minors, regardless of their age or marital status, always subject to the authority of men
An African woman married by customary union was in most cases considered a minor under the tutelage of her husband. She could not own property in her own right, except for her clothing and a few personal possessions; and if she earns money or in any way acquires property this became the property of her husband. She was unable to make a valid contract without her guardian's consent or to sue or be sued. Her husband must do this on her behalf.
Even with legal rights to reside in towns, black women lived under the strains of great insecurity. Their legal status may be rescinded on a large variety of pretexts. A woman had to avoid the misfortune of being left without a husband, whether through desertion, divorce or death. She often loses her home as well as her husband. The women were responsible for the care and feeding of the children when so many families were without fathers. Often there were no hospitals or clinics available in distant country areas.
Too often in conditions of extreme poverty, women starved themselves rather than their families. Tension related illnesses and mental breakdowns were the outcome, and daily tasks of a very hard physical nature (fetching water from long distances, for example) were often carried out by very young or very old women.
Medical facilities, when available, were not free; a certain fee was needed for hospital attention or for clinics. Long distances that had to be travelled to seek medical assistance. Maternity care was often totally absent, and delivery and antenatal care are costly and beyond the reach of many. Women's legal dependence combined with the impoverishment of the rural areas, migrant labour, and the refusal to recognise African family units all combined to create among African women workers a state of impermanence and insecurity.
The ANC-led government moves from the premise that Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human beings; their protection and promotion is the responsibility of society as a whole. Further, the Platform for Action reaffirms that all human rights - civil, cultural, economic political and social, including the right to development are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, as expressed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights.
Again the Strategy and Tactics adopted in our last national conference instruct us to do everything in our power to deal with symptoms that reflect gender discrimination. It says "All manifestations and consequences of patriarchy - from the feminisation of poverty, physical and psychological abuse, undermining of self-confidence, to open and hidden forms of exclusion from positions of authority and power - need to be eliminated. Critical in this regard is the creation of the material and cultural conditions that would allow the abilities of women to flourish and enrich the life of the nation".
One of the central achievements for women in the sixteen years of democratic rule was the adoption of the country's new constitution in 1996, and its emphasis on the right to equality. This has been strengthened by laws such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, which makes provision, among other things, for Equality Courts to deal with charges of unfair discrimination, including on the basis of gender.
We have replaced unjust and inequitable legislation with laws that facilitate social transformation. And for the first time in the history of this country, gender equality and gender equity are included in the transformation agenda. In the past sixteen years we have made great advances towards gender equality and gender equity, though it is necessary to be sensitive to the harsh realities that still faces the majority of women in our country.
The establishment of institutions such as the Commission on Gender Equality, Ministry for Women, Children and persons with disabilities, and the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities has contributed significantly in placing the rights of women high on the national agenda. Much of the work of the ANC government over the last sixteen years to push back the frontiers of poverty has improved the lives of poor women in particular. This is because women form a disproportionately large segment of the poor, unemployed and vulnerable, and because government has made concerted efforts to ensure that all programmes address the specific needs of women.
Land: The land reform policy developed over this period has, for example, aimed among other things to give women security and equal rights with men regarding ownership, control and use of land. The Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1997 gives women and children independent rights as occupiers on farms owned by another person, to ensure women are protected against arbitrary or unfair eviction.
Skills development: Education and skills development has been a major part of the fight against poverty. An area of particular concern has been to ensure that the girl child has equal access and opportunity to education, and to minimise the dropout rate among girls. The South African Schools Act of 1996 makes schooling compulsory for all children for 10 years and states that there should be no discrimination between boys and girls.
Health: There have been major achievements in the area of health. The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act allows all women access to termination of pregnancy under certain circumstances, helping to improve the rights of women and reducing the health risks associated with illegal abortions. Primary Health Care was introduced with major benefits for poor rural women. In 1994, the government introduced free health care for pregnant women and children under six at state clinics and hospitals. The Integrated Nutrition Programme assists pregnant women to maintain good levels of nutrition. The Health Department distributes female condoms to try and protect women from HIV infection.
In 1999, our Parliament passed a ground-breaking law known as Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act. This piece of legislation amongst others is aimed at raising awareness amongst women in particular and citizens in general about the dangers of smoking especially during pregnancy.
Housing: Women also have improved access to housing. The Housing Act of 1997 promotes the active participation of women in housing and creates opportunities for women to participate in the industry by granting them bridging finance. One of the aims of the National Housing programme is the provision of security of tenure.
Social Grants: Poor women have also benefited from the social development programmes of government, including the massive extension of social grants. By raising the maximum age of eligibility for the Child Support Grant, and by vigorously campaigning to ensure that all eligible children receive the grant, government has contributed greatly to improving the lives of women who bear sole or primary responsibility for child care.
Meeting Basic Needs: Since 1996, the number of households with access to electricity increased from 30 percent to 70 percent, and the number of households with access to clean running water increased from 60 to 80 percent. This has a profound impact on the lives of women, who were often, have to undertake the work of collecting water and attending to a household's energy requirements.
The ANC believes that we cannot say that we are progressing as a people and as a nation, unless the women of our country are truly liberated, and until we have reached a state of gender equality and gender equity." In view of the challenges that a democratic South Africa still faces in achieving gender equality, it is necessary to ask ourselves as revolutionaries tasked with the responsibility to lead the transformation project, that what kind of struggles we still need to engage in and what type of organisations we need to lead such struggles?
In responding to this challenge, in about six weeks from now, our movement, the ANC will be holding the largest political school in the country. Amongst the issues that will be discussed is this very important matter of women. The National Executive Committee took this firm decision cognisant of the role and contribution that women have made in our struggle for liberation. It also recognized the challenges that women still face.
We must be cognisant of the fact that in many essential ways, our women continue to suffer from triple oppression. The racial disparities of the past persist and with them the continued suffering of those that suffered from colonial and apartheid oppression. We are rebuilding society on a new foundation, freeing the initiative of women, integrating them in society as responsible citizens and involving them in decision-making. The steady progress we make in the genuine emancipation of women of our country would serves as a litmus test of the advance we are making towards fundamental social transformation.
However, the women of our country should note that, women themselves create the greatest obstacle in their total liberation, by their habit of dependence, their passivity and the dead weight of tradition they carry over from the old order. Another critical factor regarding women is that they have a tendency of not supporting each other. Some women will go out of their way to pull other women down. Jealousy amongst themselves is hindering their struggle against patriarchy.
Women and men should always remember that, we are united through the discovery of common wounds and scars, but above all unity is realized through common effort, links are forged through collective work and study, through collective internal struggle, criticism and self criticism and through action against patriarchy.
Dialectical materialism has shed light on problems and conditions women face, which is part of a general system of exploitation. Dialectics defines human society not as a natural, unchangeable fact, but as something working on nature. Human kind does not submit passively to the power of nature, but takes control over it. This process is not internal or subjective it takes objectively in practice, once women ceased to be viewed as a mere sexual beings and look beyond their biological functions and become conscious of their weight as an active social force. I essence the difference between men and women revolves around biological functions of which women have more functions than men anyway.
Thomas Sankara, a leading revolutionary from Burkina Faso in West Africa has this to say about the emancipation of women, "The human being," he said, "this vast and complex combination of pain and joy, solitary and forsaken, yet creator of all humanity, suffering, frustrated and humiliated, and yet endless source of happiness for each one of us, this source of affection beyond compare, inspiring the most unexpected courage, this being called weak but possessing untold ability to inspire us to take the road of honour, this being of flesh and blood and of spiritual conviction - this being women, is you.
You are our mothers, life companions, our comrades in struggle and because of this fact you should by right affirm yourselves as equal partners in the joyful victory feasts of the revolution. We must restore to humanity your true image by making the reign of freedom prevail over differentiations imposed by nature and by eliminating all kinds of hypocrisy that sustain the shameless exploitation of women."
Igama lamakhosikazi malibongwe!
Nathi Mthethwa is an ANC NEC member and Minister of Police
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