African National Congress Women's League

". Photo taken in Fordsburg, Johannesburg; poster designed for African National Congress South Africa in Lusaka, to commemorate 1984 as "Year of the Women" The Bantu Women's League (BWL) was founded in 1913 by Dr. Charlotte Manye Maxeke as a part of the ANC but without full membership rights. It was founded to give organization to women's issues and to channel women's politics into the ANC's nationalist struggle. The organization operated on the ANC's patriarchal nationalist conception of women's political interests as solely issues that inhibited women in their roles as wives and mothers. A central issue that led to its formation were the attempts by the Orange Free State province to require Black women to carry passes. Passes were documents that were used as a means by which local state authorities and white capitalists could regulate the movement of Black South Africans, most of whom were migrant workers. The pass was seen as a symbol of racist oppression and the Bantu Women's League was built to channel women's militancy in order to protest the passes. Black men had already been required to carry passes. Whites did not have to carry passes. In 1912, the BWL obtained 5000 Black and Colored women's signatures. The petition was sent to Prime Minister Louis Bothaasking, requesting the repeal of the pass laws. The women received no response. In response and led by Maxeke, the members burned their passes in front of municipal offices while chanting, protest and even fighting with police. Many members were arrested in Jagersfontein, Winburg and Bloemfontein. This militant action by the women resulted in the exclusion of women from the pass laws until 1956 when the South African government attempted to subject women to pass laws again. The mass mobilization of the women caught the ANC by surprise; this high level of political activity continued throughout the interwar period, prompting the ANC to reconsider the role of women in the nationalist struggle. The women made up a powerful political constituency, and the ANC was building a mass base to achieve its goal of national liberation. == History ==

Early years: 1948–1960 The interwar period was marked by an increase in Black women's mobilization against apartheid. The increase in secondary industry and the reduction of the reserve economy prompted the mass urbanization of women into townships, creating the conditions for a massive wave of resistance in the 1940s and 1950s. Madie Hall-Xuma became the first president of the auxiliary organization, and the organization was allowed to govern itself within the boundaries set by the ANC. Despite this, women's own political strength would push against assumed gender roles within the ANC. The ANC had asked it to help in organizing the 1955 Congress of the people, where the Freedom Charter was adopted. Then secretary-general of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, remarked that the "Women's League is not just an auxiliary to the ANC and we know that we cannot win liberation or build a strong movement without the participation of women." This remark was made coming off of the heels of the ANCWL's large involvement in the Defiance Campaign, which saw women members taking important roles and leading massive actions. The experience of the Defiance Campaign also led to the ANCWL's role in creating the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), a parallel organization that the ANC could bring into the national liberation struggle through the ANCWL's key membership and leadership in the federation. The ANC itself operated primarily in exile from headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia; the Women's League became dormant, although much of its work was continued by the "Women's Section" of the mainstream ANC, which had multiple branches across different exile states. Leaders of the section included Florence Mophosho and Gertrude Shope. The formal roles of the women in the Women's Section was to act as "social workers" for the members in exile. However, women in exile also took on roles of diplomats, like in the case of Mophosho, or they were able to rethink their politics and incorporate a feminist politics into their nationalist struggle through encounters with feminists in other countries, like the feminists of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola. This was an important period for ANC women in exile because when they were allowed to return in 1990, they would bring the lessons from these political exchanges into advocating for advancing the status of women in a post-apartheid South Africa and its new constitution. Baleka Mbete (then known as Baleka Kgositsile) was elected secretary-general. At the 48th National Conference of the mainstream ANC in July 1991, in a highly charged plenary session, the ANCWL failed to garner the requisite support for its proposal to insert gender quotas into the ANC constitution. Madikizela-Mandela presidency: 1993–2003 Shope was replaced as president by Madikizela-Mandela in December 1993, at the ANCWL's second national conference; the conference also elected Thandi Modise as deputy president and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as secretary-general. On 11 February 1995, eleven members of the ANCWL national executive resigned from their positions in protest of Madikizela-Mandela's leadership, vaguely citing undemocratic practices and a lack of accountability. The Mail & Guardian said that treasurer-general Tambo led the walk-out, The ANC sent in its own national leadership to attempt to mediate the dispute: the women met with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and then, reportedly for four hours, with President Nelson Mandela. Upon Madikizela-Mandela's death in 2018, it was still not clear exactly what precipitated the protest; most of the women later rejoined the ANCWL. At the ANC's 50th National Conference in December 1997, the ANCWL nominated its president, Madikizela-Mandela, for the deputy presidency of the mainstream ANC, but the nomination was invalidated on a technicality. An attempt by the ANCWL to nominate her again, this time from the floor of the conference, also failed. Although Madikizela-Mandela was elected to a second term as ANCWL president at the league's 1997 conference, she was convicted of fraud and theft in April 2003 and resigned from the office. Modise stepped in as acting president. Mapisa-Nqakula presidency: 2003–2008 In subsequent months, Modise and Mapisa-Nqakula were engaged in a heated contest to succeed Madikizela-Mandela. At the national conference in August 2003, the ANCWL's fourth since 1990, Mapisa-Nqakula prevailed and was elected ANCWL president, beating Modise by 528 votes. The conference also elected Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini as deputy president and Bathabile Dlamini as secretary-general. This leadership complement was viewed as aligned to the incumbent ANC president and national president, Thabo Mbeki. The Mail & Guardian reported that Mbeki had secured the league's support by selecting Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (a provincial leader of the ANCWL in KwaZulu-Natal at that time) Motshekga remained in the presidency until 2013 – although the league's constitution required it to hold national conferences every five years, the conference was delayed by two years. Dlamini presidency: 2015–2022 When the next conference was held in Pretoria in August 2015, it hosted a repeat of the 2008 leadership battle; on this occasion, Dlamini won, earning 1,537 votes to Motshekga's 1,081. there was some controversy within the ANC about whether the mainstream organisation's so-called step-aside rule required Dlamini to step down as ANCWL president following her conviction. Ultimately, later in April, the ANC National Executive Committee announced that, while Dlamini would not be required to "step aside", the entire national executive of the ANCWL would be disbanded because it had exceeded its five-year term. The disbandment ended Dlamini and other national leaders' terms and leadership of the ANCWL was entrusted to an interim task team, pending fresh leadership elections. == Controversy ==

Alleged North West fraud The ANCWL in the North West suspended three of its members. The League's Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) placed three of its executive members on leave on January 21, 2022 due to fraud accusations. The accusation was that the three individuals were plotting to illegally take money from the party. The issue allegedly lay with provincial secretary Briget Tlhomelang, who at the time was not the secretary but still accessed the ANC's bank accounts. The suspended chairperson, Fetsang Molosiwa, claimed only the party's executive committee could suspend the three and not the PEC. An investigation was underway in early 2022. == List of leaders ==

The top national leadership of the ANCWL are elected at regular national conferences; the 12th was held in August 2015. President Since the ANCWL was relaunched in 1990, its presidents have been: • Gertrude Shope (1991–1993) • Bathabile Dlamini (2015–2022) • Sisisi Tolashe (2008–2015) • Mookgo Matuba (2015–2022) • Nokuthula Nqaba (2023–present) == Notable persons ==

In 1956, Lilian Ngoyi became the first elected female member of the ANC National Executive Committee. • Madi Gray • Frene Ginwala • Helen Joseph • Winnie Madikizela-Mandela • Ida Mntwana • Yolisa Modise • Rahima Moosa • Florence Mophosho • Ruth Mompati • Florence Mophosho • Lillian Ngoyi • Dorothy Nyembe • Albertina Sisulu Many of these women were members of the ANCWL or worked with them in organizations like FEDSAW to advance the national liberation struggle. ==References==