By Dr Noluthando Phungula
Nomusa Dube-Ncube was sworn in as the KwaZulu-Natal Premier on August 10, 2022, during a special sitting of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in Mooi River. She is the 9th premier of the province and the first woman premier to lead the province. A commendable achievement for the province and the country at large.
I argue in this piece that the service delivery protest demonstrated on February 11 by a group of protesters called, Umsinsi Wokuzimilela who stormed the private home of Dube-Ncube as part of its “door-to-door” campaign in Hillcrest and demanded to see her can be understood as an act of violence against women in politics.
Violence against women in politics is violence that occurs within the political sphere but that specifically targets women.
International actors typically define violence against women in politics as (1) aggressive acts toward woman political actors, faced largely or only by women; (2) because they are women, often using gendered means of attack; (3) in order to deter their participation, as a way to preserve traditional gender roles and undermine democratic institutions.
The incident took place outside her Hillcrest home while her family, including children, were inside the home and can be understood as an act of intimidation. You will remember that in January of 2021, Dube- Ncube lost her husband following a short illness. This is a common narrative in many South African homes which are often headed by women. This makes such women susceptible to acts of violence as the presence of a male figure often determines the social and security status of women in their communities.
Often times such women are targeted, stigmatised by their partners, family members, communities, political rivals, and even the media. This proves particularly true in the local government sphere were councillors reside in the same areas with those they are leading. This means that perpetrators have easy access to their victims and this has been the case with the premier who was visited by protesters in her private residence.
It is worth noting that the current premier has been in the job less than seven months yet her predecessor premier Sihle Zikalala had been in office for over three years and no such antics had been witnessed.
The argument I make here is that the province has been for years faced with service delivery complaints, yet when we have a woman premier taking up office there is the audacity to invade her private home.
Politically active women have for decades had to deal with the scourge of violence often in the form of aggression, coercion, threats and intimidation. However, the concept of violence against women in politics is relatively recent, becoming a topic of discussion only in the last 15 years in different contexts around the world. However, the premier is conversant with violence against women in politics in the province. In 2016, when Dube-Ncube served as MEC Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the KwaZulu-Natal Province became particularly notorious for political killings and violence particularly in the local government sphere. In a South African Local Government Association study, the province stood out as the province where councillors are particularly under siege. Women in politics have not been left out of the violence, in fact, the province has seen increased acts of violence directed towards women. The killing and intimidation of councillors has also seen women councillors being frequently targeted as they are perceived to be easy targets.
South Africa has seen an increase in the number of women participating in politics and taking leadership roles in the political space as has been seen with Dube- Ncube and many others. While it can be argued that the country has done well in putting in place policies and quotas that have successfully called for the representation of women in political spaces. It would seem the country has been less successful in curbing the politically motivated violence directed at women within the country’s politics and this includes Dube- Ncube herself. The premier has served previously as the MEC for Cogta in the province suggesting she is conversant with the many challenges faced by women politicians in communities including the acts of violence they are often subjected to. During her tenure as Cogta MEC during the period April 2016 to July 2017, over 10 women fell victim to violence and assassination in the province as a result of their involvement in politics. In her commentary, Dube-Ncube would condemn such acts of violence against both men and women but to date the province has failed to recognise violence against women in politics as a real phenomenon in South Africa and call for consolidated efforts from all stakeholders to fight the scourge of violence against women in politics.
South Africa is experiencing a rise in reports of political violence directed at women in the political sphere. Despite the growing statistics on violence against women in politics globally, very little research has been conducted on violence directed towards women politicians in South Africa and particularly within the local government sector where the phenomenon is rife.
Dube-Ncube as the political head of the province and after having fallen victim herself is best placed to champion and lead conversations on violence against women in politics. As we consider the future of women in South African politics, it is critical that we seek appropriate responses from the government and other role-players.
Political leadership at all levels of government needs to publicly denounce violence against women in politics as a form of GBV and put in place programmes to educate and develop strategies to report and combat it. Finally, the country needs to legislate effectively and have regulations in place to protect women against political violence.
* Dr Noluthando Phungula is from the Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.
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