“These young Bathabile’s are dangerous… I don’t trust ANC bitches, period!” is an assertion made by staunch Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) feminist, Simamkele Dlakavu, this morning.
Those insulting words come from a woman who has built her brand by playing off violence, exploiting the plight and rape of women like Fezekile ‘Khwezi’ Khuzwayo, exploiting themes of gender inequality, femicide, sexism and patriarchy, as long as the political compass points to the African National Congress (ANC), yet remaining silent on the internal intersecting oppression of Black women by men inside the EFF.
Black women like the minister of social development, Bathabile Dlamini, who has held office for many years, have always been at the forefront of the struggle against sexist-political and racial inequality. Many gains we have made from struggling today, were gained from the backs of Black women like Bathabile Dlamini, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the likes, who are now relegated to “bitches” by a narcissistic EFF opportunist-feminist, whose most notable contribution to the substantive development of the Black feminist movement, is classist, liberal feminism.
Although not perfect, but under Bathabile Dlamini’s leadership, the ANC Womens League (ANCWL) has been able to correctly identify the enemy as being white monopoly capital in cahoots with imperialism and supports land expropriation without compensation, which are the most radical feminist stances – while EFF feminists have sat quiet as their male leadership gives power to the racist Democratic Alliance (DA), which entrenches the oppression of black women.
The worst part is that when Dlakavu was previously called out for her problematic brand of feminism, she directed people to her unremarkable and underwhelming Masters thesis about patriarchy within the EFF, which didn’t need a qualification for the rest of society to be aware of.
The power of language plays a big role in degrading Black women in society. Calling Black women “bitches” in such a derogatory manner reinforces a belief that violent behaviour towards women is acceptable, particularly if you don’t agree with them politically.
Dlakavu’s brand of feminism, which is essentially classist, exclusionary and anti-black, is dangerous as it leaves vast groups of Black women open for white supremacist patriarchal violence. Women like Dlakavu, who have been bolstered in to the public arena using women’s struggles, chip-in and watch with enjoyment when certain Black women are lynched by the system. Feminism was not born in Dlakavu’s back yard and we must never allow narcissism to dictate who deserves our humanity and who doesn’t.
