It was radical Pan-Africanist activist and visionary, Malcolm X who said: to be called brother, you must act like a brother.
It has to be said that newly sworn in Western Cape premier Helen Zille cannot be called … er, a woman.
To be called a woman, she has to act like a woman.
Or be seen to.
Even before she has moved into her new office, she has made a resounding anti-woman statement.
Zille has appointed 15 white men, four Coloureds and two Africans into the upper echolons of power in her legilslature.
Where are the women, Ms Zille?
It is not enough for you to tell us that you are a woman yourself.
Of course, it is important for you to appoint men based on merit.
However, what we have in the Western Cape is, largely, a patriarchal structure that denies that women deserve equal opportunities.
It is not true that there is dearth of talented women in this country that you could not find a few, even if they came from the white community.
One would have thought that as a woman, you understand the urgency for gender equity.
No one will buy your excuse that there will be enough opportunities for them to be secretaries.
Perhaps you need to take a leaf from your fellow woman premiers in the ANC who, inevitably, are going to be an example of what is mean by commitment to gender equality.
Unlike your fellow female premiers in the ANC, you seem to be the only woman who believes that South African women do not deserve to play a leading role in politics.
Of course, in your own way, you are living proof that women can rise to the greatest heights in leadership.
You are one person who should intuitively understand what it takes for a woman to get to your level. As the most powerful woman in South African politics today, you could have done more to make a statement about non-sexism and equality of opportunities.
There are some who now believe that your Democratic Party is going back to being a patriarchal structure that only elevates men. This cannot no be allowed. In fact, it is against the spirit of the Constitution which should be your guiding document.
I guess you need not be embarrassed to take a leaf from the 1956 Women’s March where South African women demanded to be treated with respect and dignity.
Perhaps you should allow your female counterparts, especially Gauteng’s Nomvula Mokonyane, to give you a crash course on what gender equality means.
She has not shied away from making it clear that women have not only to be seen to be assuming powerful positions but taking the lead.
Much as we are very happy for what you have done — as a woman, nogal — to make the DA the official opposition party, there are many women who are not happy with your decisions.
There is reason to fear that this could mark the beginning of the end of your career as the leading woman in national politics.
It is the women themselves who may bring you back to mother earth with a thud because they are, after all, in the majority.
For South Africa to be what it ought to be, women have to be seen to be taking their rightful place in leadership to direct the course of history.
You seem to have let the women down.
If I were you, I would give Mokonyane an urgent call to seek advice on how to do the right thing.
The least you can do is to restore this nation’s faith in the ability of our women to take this nation to the great heights that it deserves.
One Zille does not mean equal opportunities for all women.
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