An ideological-historical thrust for the involvement of women in politics
Debates around the participation of women in politics in Africa are informed by the central role that women played in anti-colonial struggles across the continent. The entry point is that women were key to political processes that led to the formation of modern African nation-states. Criticism of these historical representations emerged in the early 1990s, propounded by liberalism and women’s rights. The argument was that patriarchy had exploited the central role played by women in creating African nation-states while reproducing the political power of men. Ultimately, feminist movements sought to confirm if African political processes were patriarchal or could be harnessed, with the aim of advancing women’s organic interests. Neoliberal and African feminist discourses argued for gender-based political representation based on demographics. The argument is that women constitute most of the African continent’s population, and therefore political space should be negotiated for them. Furthermore, women bring ‘different experiences ‘because of their different gender roles, which can be harnessed toward developmental trajectories. Other debates positioned women as subalterns, whose subjective experiences could only be re-conceptualized and rediscovered by fellow women. The quest for the re-conceptualization and rediscovery of women’s subjective experiences in politics has led to the commemoration and elevation of a few women, known as femocracy.
Of femocracy and affirmative action
The narrative of femocracy was intended to view nationalist politics from accepted perspectives that position women in the echelons of power. In the context of African nationalist politics, the concept of femocracy is predicated as a key indicator of democracy and governance, given the historically oppressed and marginalized status of women in political participation and representation. Accordingly, in countries, such as Zimbabwe and South Africa, the ideological and political thrust of democracy is rooted in the continuation of the role played by women during the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles to post-independence. Such has been read from the lenses of affirmative action couched in language such as ‘proportional representation’ and women’s quota in legislative assemblies. Political movements such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Economic Freedom Fighters have been at the forefront of encouraging the rise of notable figures such as Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (ANC), Mbali Ntuli. Phumzile van Damme and Lindiwe Mazibuko (DA) and Mandisa Mashego (EFF). Protestant political movements such as ActionSA whose ideological thrust appears to be (a) populist, representing the people against the corrupt and elite sections of society, and (b) ‘third way’, a synthesis of the dialectic between the ANC and the DA, have followed the same trajectory of encouraging seasoned political figures such as Makhosi Khoza, who had been previously a veteran of the ruling party.
On the surface, femocracy is about democratizing and negotiating the political space to allow for greater participation of women. However, critics of femocracy analyse this concept as the falsification of the interests of ordinary women in society. Rather, femocracy is an anti-democratic structure of power that claims to represent the interests of ordinary women yet is driven by a cohort of elite women who derive authority from their being spouses of powerful political actors. A thread of domination is visible in which femocracy claims to represent the interests of ordinary women and yet the evidence thus far suggests a basic trend in which strong and opinionated women in these political movements are either caricatured, or castigated, and political identities are manufactured to silence them. The case studies of Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Mandisa Mashego, and Makhosi Khoza demonstrate that women have been instrumentally used as steppingstones for reproducing power, but not as an existential reality or a critical part of the self-interpretation of society.
Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma
The road to the ANC’s 54th national conference in 2017 was highly anticipated and contested. Renwick (2018: 191) says: ‘As the struggle to succeed Zuma as president of the ANC was seriously engaged in 2017, the battle line was drawn between two utter dissimilar candidates representing entirely different strands of the movement’. This is because of the calibre and the political credentials of the two leaders–Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ17) and Cyril Ramaphosa (CR17)–as they were known during the pre-conference campaigns. NDZ was highly endorsed by her ex-husband Zuma and the and Women’s League. Zuma’s support and endorsement of her caricatured as a bedroom coup, suggesting sexual innuendos that Zuma attempted to transmit power sexually to his former wife. Parallels were drawn between Zuma’s attempt to elevate his former wife and what was happening at the time in Zimbabwe, where it was alleged that Mugabe had been attempting to leave power to his wife, Grace Mugabe. The normative argument is that Zuma intended on reproducing his power through his former wife. Such an evaluation ignores Dlamini-Zuma’s track record as a liberation struggle stalwart, a government civil servant in various portfolios such as Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, and the first woman Chair of the African Union.
Mandisa Mashego
The case of Mashego’s political fallout with the EFF remains a product of widespread media speculations, particularly among feminists and those advocating for women’s rightful place in politics, who are concerned about patriarchal politics and the uncompromising nature of the EFF’s leader Julius Malema. This can be ascribed to several factors. Mandisa, just like notable figures such as Nkosazana-Dlamini-Zuma and Makhosi Khoza emerged from political parties whose leaders retained cultic personalities and became the embodiment of the ideas and policies of the parties. This political reality may help us understand the concept of democratic centralism that promotes unity and conformity and at the same time dismisses dissenting views and political differences. Some commentators have appropriated Mandisa as a firebrand politician that speaks her mind and pushes the boundaries of political conversations with the aim to re-conceptualize, re-problematize, and re-discover the role of women in politics. The evidence thus far suggests that Mandisa’s failure to adhere to the EFF’s concept of ‘democratic centralism’ as evidenced by her opposition to the nomination of Marshall Dlamini as the party’s secretary-general put her on a collision course with the party’s leadership. Other narratives suggest that Mashego had a fallout with the party’s leader over the ‘open border’ policy. Whatever the reasons may be, the leadership response to Mashego’s decision to quit the EFF mirrored a political construction of ‘political disloyalty’. Such narrative found purchase among her sympathizers that depicted her as a victim of patriarchal politics.
Makhosi Khoza
In 2017, ANC veteran Makhosi Khoza announced her decision to quit the ruling party citing “I want to free myself from the ugly‚ nasty‚ self-serving‚ factional and unprincipled contestation for positions (taking place ahead of the December elective conference). Further, Khoza had taken a public stance against corruption‚, and her public calls for then-President Jacob Zuma to resign. This was followed by the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial leadership instituting disciplinary charges against her. Disciplinary hearings serve as veneers of legality under the pretext of containing and silencing dissenting views. Khoza joined ActionSA, a protestant political movement envisaged to right the wrongs of the ANC. However, in March 2022, the party announced that it had expelled Khoza ‘for bringing the party into disrepute, deliberately acting in a way that negatively impacts the party and acting in a manner that causes disunity in the party. A common thread is visible in which political parties tend to stifle opposing voices through disciplinary inquiries and subsequently terminating their contracts.
Lindiwe Mazibuko
The case of Lindiwe Mazibuko, the Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader, should be assessed within the trajectory of specific politics that suggest ‘struggles within struggles’ for the African woman. This is to say Mazibuko’s fallout with the ‘liberal’ DA projects a race-based, gendered, and exclusive hegemonic politics that favours unity, conformity and discipline and dismisses diverging opinions, and new and innovative ideas. According to Mazibuko, the DA was constituted of “highly disconnected men callously strutting about social media like a law unto themselves”. A fundamental argument raised by Mazibuko was that the DA was both patriarchal and racist. Therefore, the party had failed to manage a social cohesion agenda because of its tendency to label black leaders as by-products of the benevolence of whites. Therefore, it was important that the party “should reflect on a culture that isolates black members and leaders.”. Various sources have also pointed to the fall-out between Mazibuko and then DA leader Helen Zille leading to her resignation from the party in 2014. These accounts appear to give new dimensions to the ‘struggles within struggles’ in which a woman must confront patriarchy, racism and at the same another woman trying to pin her down. It is believed that Mazibuko’s insistence on bringing new nuances, ideas and politics to the DA set her on a collision course with an authoritarian old guard within the party. An excerpt from the Sunday Times suggests “the interests of the party became internal, not external. And it was done because Mazibuko did not see eye to eye with Zille on many things and posed a potential threat to her future control of the DA. Zille’s response to that, and the response of those loyal to her, was to hound Mazibuko out of the party. Those who did not hound relented meekly before her”. This may help explain why Zille caricatured and side-lined Mazibuko in critical election campaigns and the day-to-day run of the party. It is often argued that political factions began to emerge in which Zille isolated Mazibuko and those that believed in her leadership. Interestingly, in an age where gender equity and equality have become part of the broader societal conversations, Zille’s handling of Mazibuko, a fellow woman, does not inspire confidence in the cause.
Zanele Magwaza- Msibi
In 2011, Zanele Magwaza- Msibi, then IFP’s embattled national chairperson, announced her resignation from the party. Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s long hold on the party culminated into dictatorship, lack of growth of the party and its subsequent failure to perform at the 2009 general elections. It is in the reasoning behind that the party stalwarts began to rally behind Magwaza as the much-needed alternative that could resuscitate the party’s political fortunes. The case of Zanele shares comparable justifications elsewhere in Africa with notable examples of Joice Mujuru, who sought to contest Mugabe’s long grip on ZANU-PF and Thokozani Khupe who challenges Morgan Tsvangirai’s monopoly of the MDC in Zimbabwe. In both cases, the women were politically hounded with the suggestions that they attempted to upset the status quo by challenging men of political significance. In response to Magwaza’s challenge, then-IFP leader Buthelezi described Magwaza-Msibi’s actions as establishing a party based on “disgruntlement and ambition” rather than ideologies or values and that he “struggled to understand how she could inflict such damage on a party she professed to love. Such a response watered down on the credibility and legitimacy of Magwaza as an alternative. Having been a royal prince in a traditional, conservative and patriarchal Zulu society, Buthelezi’s responses resonated with several constituencies that believed in the subordination of women to men in power.
In conclusion, African politics have been typified by an observable pattern that appears to silence the voices of formidable and powerful women. The case of Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma and Mandisa Mashego depicts a practical example of the difficulties where women are expected to re-negotiate their spaces in political movements because of the entrenched nationalist and patriarchal rhetoric of such movements. Another point of observation is despite the touted beliefs of being forward-looking and progressive protestant political parties such as the ActionSA and the DA may appear liberal and promote women’s interests, however, the evidence presented in the manner in which Makhosazana Khosi and Lindiwe Mazibuko, Phumzile van Damme and Mbali Ntuli, to mention a few, have been treated demonstrates the exact opposite. In the case of Mazibuko, the fall out with the DA typified a struggle within a struggle in which she must confront racism, gendered politics and gate keeping by other women counterparts. Lastly, the case of Magwaza-Msibi explains the impact of cultural-patriarchal constructions in silencing innovative and dissenting voices.
African politics should embrace women in politics as the self-interpretation of society. As women constitute the majority, democracy dictates that the majority should be properly represented. Changes in African political parties should accommodate innovative ideas in the form of alternative political differences.
