by Caro Malherbe | Feb 14, 2014 | News
South Africa is stuck in a space where women politicians are the target for unfair gender-based criticism and humiliation.
This was the subject of a discussion at Wiser on Thursday called“The trouble of being a female in politics” with a panel composed of Rebecca Davis from the Daily Maverick, Eusebius McKaiser from Power FM and journalist and Wiser fellow Khadija Patel.
Davis wrote an article for Daily Maverick last week on the special problems for women in politics. The article, which caused wide debate, addressed the way the South African media and society as a whole dealt with the merger between the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Agang and their respective female leaders, Helen Zille and Mamphela Ramphele.
The press conference was marked with a kiss between Zille and Ramphele, demonstrating their long friendship. But the panelists pointed out that the kiss soon became a meme, and was compared to acts of lesbianism and sexual provocation.
The merger soon failed but Davis noted that criticism of Zille and Ramphele made hay of the two leaders being women.
“Let’s face it, the DA-Agang merger was disastrous, but the fact that they were women should have been irrelevant.”
“This suggests that there is an illegitimacy to women owning the public space in South Africa,” said Davis.
Both the DA and Agang have also been criticized for being too “top heavy” with female leadership.
However, Davis said a political party with an all-male leadership is never recognized for its “weirdness” or criticized for being “too masculine”.
McKaiser believes that South African politics does not have a problem with a lack of female representation. He argues some of the best performing politicians are female, a fact that is often overlooked. McKaiser uses African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as an example of a woman succeeding in politics. But McKaiser adds that she has yet to make a public mistake and therefore has been spared gendered criticism.
Patel said she was personally pained by the gendered discourse used on women. “It is already hard for a woman to be in politics without these remarks hoisted on you.”
An example of this would be the press referring to Ramphele as “gogo”, a term which helped describe her as an old and confused woman, when she is actually younger than President Jacob Zuma. The fact that he is old is seen as a political advantage and an indicator of accumulated wisdom instead of senility, Patel said.
by Jay Caboz | Mar 1, 2013 | Sport
by Jay Caboz
The influence of Witsies Demi du Toit and Jaime Martin proved too much for Crusaders B as the pair played a hand in every goal of a 6-4 win on Monday evening at the Fourways Indoor Stadium.
Crusaders made the first move of the game forcing Wits goalkeeper Zimisile Shanghe to make a save over the side line from a difficult angle. Crusaders continued to look dangerous going forward until Wits’ Urselar Lesar successfully snuffed out the threat.
In the 13th minute, du Toit was able to snatch the ball from a Crusader centre link to feed Wits’ Gabriela Garcia, who was left unmarked at top D. The striker calmly slotted the ball in the right of the net to put Wits 1-0 up.
Shanghe was forced into action a final time in the half when Crusaders took a quick free hit towards the goal. She was up for the challenge, ensuring Wits remained in the lead at halftime and kept Wits 1-0 up at the halftime break.
The game exploded in the second half when Martin stole a ball from the Crusaders defence within the first minute. She hit the right hand corner of the board, seconds after making a poor decision that could have won her a penalty corner. Her celebration was well deserved having made the goal from nothing and giving Wits a two goal cushion.
Martin, who was playing a high attacking role, was proving to be a handful for the Crusaders defenders. In the 26th minute, Martin added another to her tally after she deflected a wrong-side penalty corner drag- flick by du Toit.
In the 30th minute, Crusaders’ Yolanda Kruger converted to draw the score line back to 3-1.
Martin then neatly pocketed her hat trick by wrong siding the keeper with a delicately placed shot, rather than her usual powerful efforts from top D, that went into the keepers near side post.
Crusaders’ Kruger took advantage of an off-the-line clearance by du Toit which deflected, with force, off her stick to rebound over Shanghe and into the net. Kruger managed to find the back of the net again, scoring her own hat trick and putting the score at 4-3 to Wits.
Wits went with a decision to exploit the wrong side corner again when du Toit rammed home a drag flick into the top right hand corner.
With five minutes left on the clock Crusaders’ Deslie Lester managed to squeeze in a deflection from top D from a well crossed ball.
Wits kept possession of the ball in the last few minutes, frustrating the Crusaders bench. Martin’s dribbles found space once again at the top of the D and this time she opted to win a penalty corner with some neat stick skills. The wrong-side corner was once again utilised and du Toit obliged with her second goal of the match to put Wits 6-4 ahead and end the game.
How have the women done this season? Click to read more
Hockey Women vs St Andrews
Hockey Women vs Crusaders A
How have the men done this season? Click to read more
Hockey Men vs Jeppe A
Hockey Men vs Wanderers A
by Jay Caboz | Feb 6, 2013 | Sport
Shooting High: The Wits Hockey Women, in blue and yellow, watch as a shot by Jeppe St Andrews midfielder Jules Cass, in black and blue, goes toward the goal. Wits lost the game 6-3.
By Jay Caboz
The Wits Hockey Women lost their second Indoor Premier League match 3-6 against Jeppe St Andrews at the Fourways Indoor Stadium on Monday night.
Wits got off to a good start at the beginning of the game. They produced a number of neat plays along the board and managed to get behind Jeppe’s defence to test the keeper. The pressure continued to build for the Witsies and within the fourth minute Wits were rewarded with a penalty corner. Witsie and former South Africa U21 defender Demi du Toit stepped up to slam home a drag flick from the top of the D to put Wits up 1-0.
Jeppe managed to shake off the goal and soon after began to turn the tide against Wits.
Wits conceded a number of interceptions along the forward line which allowed Jeppe to counter attack in force. This proved too much to handle for the Witsies as they conceded a pair of penalty corners. In the 11th minute Jeppe’s Roxanne Turner drew the sides level with an un-saveable drag flick in the bottom right hand corner.
Jeppe’s Jules Cass, a former Wits student, added another goal from a penalty corner in the 15th minute.
One minute before halt-time, Wits manage to scrape the scores level after Witsie striker Jaime Martin found a gap in Jeppe’s defence to set up an easy tap in for Wits’ Gabirela Garcia.
During the second half Wits struggled to get the ball out from their own 16 yard hits, this was mainly due to a change in strategy from the Jeppe side who stepped higher in defence preventing most of the ball getting to the Wits forwards. Jeppe showed great composure and awareness and pulled any chance of a victory away from Wits.
In quick succession Jeppe scored two goals in the 22nd and 25th minutes to put Wits 4-2 behind.
Wits came back with another goal from Du Toit in the 27th minute, this time taken from a penalty stroke.
Wits goal keeper Zimisile Shange was peppered with a number of shots from all corners of the D. The students were lucky to leave just two more goals unanswered in the 29th and 33rd minute as Jeppe put the score line to 6-3.
Wits coach Peter de Lange threw in one final gamble by replacing Shange with an extra outfield player with three minutes to go. The change in strategy was ineffectual in returning a goal but did manage to stem the flow of goals as players were able pick up loose unmarked players.
After a comfortable 5-3 win last week Wits’ hopes of keeping with the top competitors in the league took a major knock after the loss.
jaycaboz@witsvuvuzela.com
Witsie defneders Kirsten Morley-Jepson (left) and Gabirela Garcia (middle) tackle Roxanne Turner (right) from Jeppe St Andrews
A Wits striker narrowly misses a shot to the far post during their match against Jeppe St Andrews
Gabriela Garcia watches the ball lift off a Jeppe St Andrews player.
by Jay Caboz | Feb 5, 2013 | News, Sport
Wits defenders tackle Crusaders forward Sarah Harley. Pic: Jay Caboz
Playing in their first game of the Indoor Season, Wits 1st Women’s Hockey put to bed a half-asleep Crusaders 1st with a comfortable 5-3 win, at the Fourways High School Indoor Hall on Monday evening.
From the start of the game Wits’ manoeuvres up front proved to be too difficult to keep track of for the Crusaders defence. One of Wit’s new signings, Kirstin Simone, found herself with acres of space in the 7th minute at the top of the D and neatly slotted the first goal of the game.
Shortly after, Simone found herself in a similar situation and calmly dribbled the keeper to put Wits 2-0 up in the 10th minute.
Crusaders’ Des Miller managed to get a grip on the game for her side after she pulled a goal back just before the stroke of half time in the 19th minute.
The second half saw Crusaders begin to have more and more of an influence on the game. But Wits Captain Jamie Martin halted the Crusaders build-up after she dribbled the Crusaders goalkeeper, on counter attack, in the 23rd minute and gave Wits a two goal cushion.
Thanks to a brilliant piece of individual play by Crusaders striker Sarah Harley, Crusad
Wits Striker Kirstin Simone takes a shot shortly into the first half. Pic: Jay Caboz
ers managed to pull another goal back to bring the score to 3-2.
Wits sat back and cushioned a steady stream of pressure from Crusaders. As a result Wits conceded a number of penalty corners. But Crusaders didn’t take advantage of the corners, mainly thanks to some acrobatic aerial saves from Wits goalkeeper Zimisile Shanghe.
Crusaders ended up committing too many players forward leaving too much space for Wit’s strikers, who positioned themselves for the counter attack opportunities. Wits defender Demi du Toit found Simone once again unmarked on the side boards high in Crusaders territory. Simone duly converted leaving the score line at 4-2, and completing a hat trick for herself.
Crusaders threw in a final gamble by substituting their keeper with another striker and opting to play with six outfield players. The strategy seemed to be paying off as Crusaders continued to have shots on target. But Wits’ Martin cornered a lone defender and slotted a 5th goal.
Crusaders Heidi Tessendorf managed to squeeze in one final goal in the 38th minute but it was a case of too little too late for the losing team.
The final whistle blew with Wits winning the match 5-3 and announcing their introduction to the 2013 season.
by Mignionette de Bruin | Aug 31, 2011 | News
WITH Women’s Month coming to an end, Vuvuzela spoke to two well-known alumni to get their views on Women’s Month and why Men’s Month is not in South Africa’s future.
Helen Zille, leader of the Democratic Alliance
Helen Zille
Helen Zille, leader of the DA, has made a name for herself in South African politics. She obtained a bachelor of arts degree at Wits and says Women’s Day (and month) allows South Africans to remember the women who made difficult choices in the past so we can have a more equal society today.
“It [Women’s Month] is also a time when we should recommit ourselves to opening up more opportunities for women and address the challenges women face in South Africa,” Zille says.
She says women should do whatever they feel like doing in Women’s Month and “not only what they have to do”.
“Women’s Day is significant but also slightly patronising. It enables society to compartmentalise women’s issues, rather than dealing with the underlying causes…
“So many men think it is their right to have multiple concurrent sexual partners…and young girls are often forced into their first sexual experience.
“Let’s deal with those core issues every day and not compartmentalise women’s issue into one day or month each year.”
Zille’s ultimate spoiling experience would be a meal with her family and she says there is no Men’s Day in South Africa because “every day is Men’s Day”.
Samantha Cowen, presenter on 94.7 Highveld Stereo's Breakfast Xpress team. Photo: courtesy samcowen.com
Samantha Cowen
Samantha Cowen’s voice is well-known in the wider Joburg area. She has hosted the Rude Awakening and the Breakfast Xpress on 94.7 Highveld Stereo for about 10 years now. She is also an ex-Witsie and says Women’s Month gives a chance for women to regroup and identify challenges.
“The maternal mortality in this country is still too high, as is HIV transmission among women and there’s a lost generation of women in their late 40s and early 50s who haven’t had the education and opportunities the rest of us have.”
She also thinks women should “not do anything” on Women’s Day or Month.
“I think women do too much on a daily basis. We’ve forgotten how important it is to have a nice cup of tea and a little sit down. And exhale.”
Her ultimate spoiling experience would be an afternoon where she has to do nothing at all and to “not think about anything at all”.
She does however think there should be a Men’s Day and Month. “I think men are in a very difficult position at the moment. Perhaps a day to reflect on the various talents we should be celebrating in the male gender would give both sexes a chance to acknowledge those.”
And why does she think there is no Men’s Day or Month in South Africa? “I have no idea! Find me a parliamentary suggestion box and I’ll pop it in!”
by Sakeena Suliman | May 19, 2011 | News
I was drinking a glass of water in our faculty kitchen the other day when another student walked in and said: “Ah, Sakeena. Nice to see you here where you belong.” The look of confusion my eyebrows drew must’ve urged him to explain, “In the kitchen, the place where women are most happy.”
Gasp, choke, faint… horrific, right? In this era of liberalism there are guys that hold those “dark aged” opinions, and at a university where we’re supposed to be free and progressive thinkers. You’re probably wondering what my response was other than possibly choking on my water. I gulped the rest down, said “you’re joking” and made my escape.
Even though we pretend to have moved away from archaic notions of men and women and their “places” in society, it still exists. So, as women, do we continue trying to fit into a “man’s world”, becoming pseudo men to express how equal we are?
A firm, solid handshake to prove you’re as tough as the boys, power suits with exaggerated shoulder pads to express strength and authority, and no tears – those are for “girls”. We wouldn’t want to come across as what we really are would we, because over time the essence of being female has been sacrificed for the right to fit in.
Even the labels we give ourselves in our efforts to be equal make it less so and more like we’re trying to measure up to a standard; female stock brokers and lawyers, business women, female athletes, ladies soccer, women boxers.
I guess what I’m saying is you don’t need to “burn your bra” to be equal. The women in the 1960s didn’t either, that was just misrepresented by the masculine powers that be at the time, painting feminists as men haters.
Equality comes from realising that even though you have smaller shoulders, a higher-pitched voice and smaller feet which thankfully don’t get compared to another part of our anatomy, power is our birthright too. Those outer elements have no bearing on how smart and focused we are.
I can cook – because I like being in the kitchen; I can change a tyre – because I drive and need to know how; I can throw a punch and do clap push-ups, jump a fence and I can do it in stilettos if I had to and none of that scores me points in the equality ratings because the fact that I am, is enough.
So to all the ladies out there, your place is where you willingly choose, your power is in your presence, your equality your right. Don’t compromise your womanhood, embrace it. Peace…
