A parliamentarian friend of mine called me with excitement on Women’s Day to tell me about the opportunities that are there for women entrepreneurs in government. I told the friend that I am happy to share the information with others, however on a personal level I would not apply because I have given up on ever getting support from Government. I started tearing involuntarily as I was trying to explain my reasons to this concerned friend.
This is the silent battle that I have been struggling with for the past few years, where every time an opportunity from government or its entities is shared, my ill-feelings are triggered. Even when it’s a simple text message.
South Africa is a marvellous yet complex nation. In the 30 years of democracy, so much has changed yet a lot of things remain the same. As my other friend puts it: “We cannot deny that we have made progress but we also cannot deny that we haven’t made the progress that we should have made.”
Over the last few weeks three Political Parties (I say political parties because the individuals involved represent their parties in those portfolios as leaders) have been in the centre of an issue of a 23 year old young black woman’s participation in a beauty pageant. It iwas interesting to see these parties DA, PA and Action SA ( two being in the GNU) even during a women’s month bullying a girl child in a country where statistics reveal alarming rates of GBV which affects women and children more and they are doing it the name of fighting for South Africans, while these very parties still treat me with exclusion as a black woman who is a South African media personality who happens to have a disability (personal and professional experience).
It is interesting that these leaders and others who say that they are fighting for transformation and equality for all South Africans, didn’t say anything or much about the inclusion and ultimate triumph of Mia Le Roux as Miss SA, whose courage I applaud. I call it courage because she entered this pageant as a woman with a disability despite the fact that on the UN International Day for people with disabilities no political party acknowledged the day.Those who later issued a statement did it because I spoke about it. In July, a black woman – Kgothatso Montjane made history by being the first black South African to win Wimbledon. A record breaking achievement yet she didn’t get the widespread recognition and acknowledgement that we see when others get international breakthroughs for the country. Some even get homecoming celebrations. I can’t help to think that it is because Kgothatso has a disability.
It would be more beneficial if things would be done equally as we are a country that needs to prioritise transformation and inclusion because our past. We are the most unequal country in the world hence there are multiple contradictory realities that exist simultaneously . For some of us it even feels like we have multiple lives that clash between you, the one person.
The dynamics of our country require leaders to be multi-dimensional in their approach. You can’t be speaking of gender equality and transformation yet you treat a sector of society as if they are inferior. This reverses the gains of democracy.
The issue of illegal immigrants is an issue that anyone who loves this country cannot condone but as someone who experiences prejudice constantly on so many different levels including race, gender, disability, ethnicity and more, I find that the lines are blurred sometimes when people deal with this issue. I am aware that there is an alleged crime that has been uncovered however when this issue began, this was not a known fact therefore it can’t certainly be the motive behind the this saga.
This week as we start the planning of the Masingita Masunga Legacy month, activities which include the Masingita Legacy Lecture at Wits Business School and the opening of abOVEnormal sports high performance centre, I had to make a decision that saddens me which is to get people from other countries to give the lecture and open the centre. Not because I don’t love or believe in the South Africans leaders and those who have done great things but because I don’t think that I have the capacity anymore to pick up the pieces when my fellow South Africans leaders and prominent people treat me as if I don’t deserve to have access to them as an equal which is why we had delays with the lecture which was supposed to happen earlier this year.
I hope as we continue to commemorate women’s month, we can emulate the 1956 women. They worked together in spite of their differences without being selective and exclusive. This, for the sake of the advancement of all women regardless of who they were .
One of the setbacks caused by outcomes of this year’s election is that we have less women in parliament and if we don’t stop being a selective with the inclusion and being exclusive with the transformation and equality processes we will keep on going one step forward and ten steps backwards.
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Masingita Masunga is a humanist, award winning media personality and sessional lecturer for African Leadership at Wits Business School.
The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Jambo Africa Online or Brandhill Africa, the publisher of this news portal.