The 11th of July 2023 marks a year since the appointment of the ANCWL’s National Task Team (NTT) following the disbandment the 12th ANCWL NEC by the African National Congress in June of 2022. The NTT’s singular mandate was to establish ANCWL structures from branch level, to ultimately convening the 13th National Conference. All this had to be done within a period of 12 months, and we are pleased to say we have adhered to Terms of Reference we were given by the ANC as we are now a few days away from the 13th National Conference.

As previously communicated, the 13th National Conference of the ANCWL will be convened under the theme: “Advancing Decisive Action Towards the Full Liberation and Emancipation of Women.” The theme of the National Conference encapsulates the urgent need to address the persistent barriers that hinder women’s empowerment and equality. It calls for a proactive and determined approach to dismantling discriminatory structures, norms, and practices that limit women’s opportunities and infringe upon their rights.

The theme of our Conference further acknowledges that achieving true liberation and emancipation for women requires more than incremental change, notwithstanding that great strides have been made to date —it necessitates bold and transformative action at individual, societal, and institutional levels. Ours is to underscore the importance of collective efforts, collaboration, and strategic interventions to challenge gender disparities in political, economic, social, and cultural spheres. By advancing decisive action, we aim to create a society where every woman can exercise agency, enjoy equal rights, and actively participate in shaping their own destinies.

To this end and in line with Rule 3.1. of the ANCWL Constitution which is instructive that the character of the ANCWL is based on the policies and principles of the ANC; the National Conference will engage in discussions based on the above imperatives and drawing from the resolutions of the ANC’s 55th National Conference. The policy discussions, which will be elaborated upon at a later stage, will cover Socio-Economic, Organisational Renewal, International Relations, Legislature and Governance, amongst other policy areas, with the crosscutting themes being how the ANCWL will leverage on the enabling legislative and policy environment to realise the full liberation and emancipation of women. Conference will also focus its energies on the development far-reaching strategies to deliver a decisive and resounding victory for the African National Congress in the 2024 General Elections.

STATE OF READINESS

The National Conference Preparatory Committee has met regularly since the adoption of the new roadmap to Conference and has to date received reports on the verification of branches,

delegations to conference, work of the electoral commission, finance and security related matters

as well as conference logistics.

As part of preparations towards the Conference, the ANC, represented by the Secretary General

of the ANC, held a meeting with the National Task Team of the ANCWL to assess the state of

readiness for the 13th National Conference. Given the fact that the mandate of the NTT is derived

from the ANC, the Secretary General’s Office (SGO) has been playing an instrumental role in the

preparations towards National Conference with yesterday’s meeting part of the ongoing

engagements that have been taking place between the ANC SGO and ANCWL NTT.

The meeting conducted an assessment of the pre-registration process which had taken place

from the 7-9th of July. Pre-registration is undertaken in Provinces with the intention of resolving

any outstanding issues and disputes ahead of formal registration at Conference and to ensure

that delays usually encountered during registration are dealt with ahead of time. The meeting

welcomed the fact that in several provinces most notably Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo,

Free State and Gauteng, pre-registration proceeded smoothly with most of their delegates

successfully registered. Other provinces, such as KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape,

experienced a variety of challenges which require further attention. Our assessment however is

that there is still room for improvement in the registration process in all of the provinces. The

ANCWL NTT is further resolved to give greater focused attention to the dispute resolution and

appeals process to ensure that all matters raised by our branches, regions and provinces are fully

attended to. Following the exhaustion of the issues raised; the meeting determined a need for

more time to resolve the issues identified and which are critical to the convening of a successful

Conference.

Accordingly, it has been resolved to post the national conference by a week to the 21st until the

23rd of July 2023, to allow all necessary measures to be undertaken to uphold the credibility and

integrity of Conference. All the branches with any outstanding issues, through official and

organisational channels, will be contacted in order to address these challenges.

CONCLUSION

As the ANCWL NTT, we reaffirm our commitment to a credible and thus successful 13th National

Conference. The primary goals of the 13th National Conference are to consolidate, safeguard,

and advance decisive action towards the full liberation and emancipation of women, and we will

not deflect from this momentous task we have been entrusted with.

Finally, as the ANCWL we extend our congratulations to our nation’s pride and two-time Olympic

champion Caster Semenya for successfully challenging the discrimination case brought against

her in the European Court of Human Rights. We welcome this judgment by the court as it reaffirms

three all for fair and just treatment of especially, female athletes in professional sports.

MALIBONGWE!!!

ISSUED BY THE ANCWL NTT

Comrade Maropene Ramokgopa
ANCWL NTT Coordinator

Comrade Dina Pule
ANCWL NTT Spokesperson

For Enquiries
Comrade Sarah Mokwebo
ANCWL NTT Media Liaison
073 137 3505