By Veronica Mente
Over the past 10 years, there is no political organisation in this country that has stood firm on the principle of human dignity as much as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has done. Even when faced with the tide of populist putsch against affirming rights of the most vulnerable in society, we stood firm, at the risk of losing votes, in affirming the principle that all human beings are created equal, and that no accident of birth should have to preclude any particular group in society from enjoying basic, universal human rights.
In particular, we have affirmed the rights of women and advocated for gender equality and gender justice. The EFF has been at the forefront seeking justice for women tortured by the ANC government in state hospitals, the decriminalisation of sex work, and violence men perpetrate on women and children.
The CGE report recommended a dialogue between the National Department of Health and the women it tortured to seek redress. It is incredibly bizarre that in declaring the gross violation of human rights and clear criminal legislation in this regard, the CGE sends the tortured survivors to the perpetrator (the national department of health) for redress and justice.
In 2015, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) presented findings to the South African National Aids Council (Sanac), citing their survey titled "The 2014 Stigma Index Survey: Experiences of People with HIV". The report revealed, on page 29, that approximately 476 women disclosed to HSRC that they had undergone forced sterilisation, an act of torture, under the administration of the ANC government.
In 2020, the EFF lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate how a report on gross human rights violations was ignored by HSRC, Sanac, the Deputy President, and all provincial Premiers.
However, the SAHRC’s response indicated its inability to process complaints independently, citing the CGE’s investigation of only 48 women, while there were 476 in the Sanac report.
It is only a politicised SAHRC that can shamelessly deny justice for 476 women. As a result, the EFF laid criminal charges against the CGE and SAHRC in September 2021, accusing them of being "accessories after the fact." Both these Chapter 9 institutions brazenly failed in their constitutional duties to investigate and/ or give sound redress. The CGE failed to report their findings to the South African Police Services (SAPS) or the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for criminal investigation and prosecution, even though forced sterilisation is a criminal offence.
The SAHRC did not even bother that 476 women reported to a state institution that they were tortured by the ANC government. The EFF, however, is continuing with the fight for justice for women who were tortured. Our attorneys are at an advanced stage of seeking individual readdress, and yet the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla continues to express his utter disdain for African women in the manner in which he is engaging in this redress.
When it comes to the recognition of the rights of sex workers, in almost every avenue open for discussing the rights of sex workers, the EFF has affirmed that sex work is work, and that statutory decriminalisation of sex work would assist in stopping the victimisation of sex workers in the country.
In our 2019 manifesto, the EFF declared that we would aim to legalise sex work, and in the following year, in our EFF Women’s Month 2020 programme, we led a programme on the decriminalisation of sex work, speaking to experts and workers themselves, surrounding their experiences and what their needs were. While there was backlash, it was important for us to delve into these narratives that show the true stories of sex workers, who are consistently excluded from their own stories through extreme moralisation and general degradation.
Consequently, the current Decriminalisation of Sex Work Bill in Parliament is as a result of the public discursive dominance the EFF has had on this issue. Our patient, day-to-day conscientisation of society that we have practised over the past 10 years, has now made it possible for parliament to discuss a matter that no one seemed to care about before the EFF.
Furthermore, our fight against GBV led us to establish the first ever Gender-Based Violence (GBV) desk at our headquarters. This desk is led by the Deputy Secretary-General of the organisation, Poppy Mailola, and wherever there are cases of GBV in the country, you are certain to find members of the EFF fighting for the rights of victims of GBV.
More recently, we initiated the passive protest against the sloth-like response of the South African Police Service (SAPS) when Namhla Mthwa was murdered in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. While Mthwa’s case is yet to be resolved, as thousands of other cases of violent murders against women, women of this country know for a fact that the EFF is combat ready to fight their individual cases whenever the organisation becomes aware.
Therefore, there is no argument that the rights of women have been strengthened or at least brought to public attention over the past 10 years through the valiant strides made by the EFF. The struggle for complete emancipation of women in the workplace, home, and society will be intensified over the next decade, building on the solid foundation laid by those who led these battles in the past 10 years.
* Veronica Mente is the National Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters.
** The views expressed do not necessarily the views of Independent Media or IOL.