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The ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) secretary-general, Meokgo Matuba, has warned that the party’s upcoming vetting process must not be used by factions to settle scores.
Matuba also called on the ANC in government to steer away from rhetoric and to implement programmes to end the scourge of gender-based violence in the country.
In an interview with City Press, the national executive committee (NEC) member said the determination about who has integrity and who is without it would be a difficult and contentious issue at best.
This comes as the ANC is set to begin vetting members who have been nominated to represent it in the National Assembly and across provincial legislatures.
The party has vowed that it will present a credible list that does not include those whose character has been called into question even in the absence of a judgment made in a court of law.
The strategy is to win over voters who are not in the structures in the ANC formally or informally, Matuba said.
“I am not sure what the measurement might be to determine who has integrity and who does not,“ Matuba said.
“How do you make the determination of who has integrity and who does not?
“It should be on the basis of your conduct, your performance in the work of the organisation.
“It should not rely on reports that are not factual,” Matuba said.
She said because of differences, people could project you in a particular way, even if you had not been convicted of anything.
“This could be used to discredit other comrades. People are not [always] honest about this matter.
“They have a particular view of a particular individual so they will say that person is corrupt. That corruption which people speak of cannot be defined or proved.
“For me it must be a fair process. When we do vetting it must be an honest process.”
When asked whether women’s league president Bathabile Dlamini was one of those who might be a casualty of the vetting process, Matuba, who is also a member of the national list committee, said that she did not want to pre-empt anything.
She said discussions would be held to determine who would make the list.
The NEC member took issue with the top spots across the nine provinces being taken up by men.
She said men are number one on all provincial lists, with the exception of the Mpumalanga list.
“Women are not reluctant to lead, our problem is that of the lack of unity. The majority of the branch members are women. When you look at branches you will find that 70% of the membership is made up of women.
“It is our disunity that puts us as women at a disadvantage. If the ANC constitution did not force 50-50 representation you would not see women on the lists. We need to fight that mind-set as women.”
The women’s league has put on the back burner calls for the death penalty to return. Instead it is focusing on gender-based violence.
Matuba said the league is calling on government to review existing laws to better address the scourge.
“What will assist is a deliberate programme that will address the issues of gender-based violence. As part of the programme, the legislation would have to be amended.
“It urgently needs to be reviewed. Right now the onus is on the survivor of gender-based violence to prove how she was violated. Why must the man not prove his innocence? It also takes too long to process these cases.
“When you look back to the 2010 soccer World Cup, there was a 24/7 priority court to deal with matters as they arose. Why do we not use that system again and dedicate it to gender-based violence.”
