Winnie’s death highlights ANCWL’s decline

Now here lies before us an empty vessel, the women’s league. I can think of nothing more redundant. Does the ANCWL even have a mandate?

Marchers from the ANC Women’s League outside the house of the late Winnie Mandela in Orlando West, Soweto on 4 April 2018. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia

If anything, the death of Winifred Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela highlights how the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) has deteriorated into nothing but a white elephant in a political room that refuses to accept it as a figure of authority in South African politics.

Say what you will about the Democratic Alliance, but one has to respect its stance on quotas. You must admit that quotas are nothing but window dressing that gains you nothing.

We need to eject ourselves from the dreams that quotas and measures forced on the public service administration will one day liberate, empower and balance the scales of power in our favour.

We need to divorce ourselves from the dream that the ANCWL is in any way a means for us to reach equality.

One just has to look at the calibre of woman that mama Winnie was, what she stood for, her achievements, even her failures.

Her entire political existence by far outweighs the shadow of nothingness that the women’s league is today.

Her entire existence in our political space … every word she uttered … every political move she made – the ANCWL will never rise to such greatness.

All they can do is sit on the sidelines and rant and rave about how she was one of them. Sadly, after the class of Winnie, the ANCWL ceased to have any significance.

They ask us to celebrate her life, they have an expectation for us to mourn her unison with them, and they compel us to never forget her life lessons.

Meanwhile, the very same people with the loud hailers are the ones who, on a daily basis, forget her teachings as they conduct their everyday political business affairs.

Now here lies before us an empty vessel, the women’s league. I can think of nothing more redundant.

Does the ANCWL even have a mandate?

Twenty-four years into democracy, what can they attest to have contributed to South Africa?

We can never churn out the type of leaders as that of yesteryear, we are fighting a different struggle, but we can learn from their lessons.