Gender and Age Demographics: The Qualitative Decline of the ANC

Pivotal characters in the struggle for freedom like Lillian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu, and Winnie Mandela and the ANC Youth League of Anton Lembede, Nelson Mandela and youth activists like Steve Biko provide examples of how women and young people have historically been at the centre of revolutions. Over the years, however, the ANC has not created a political environment where both women and its young cadres are given the responsibility to lead the organisation, despite the movement having some of the most prominent and generally accepted women and young leaders in society within its ranks. Women in the ANC have not been viewed as intellectuals, theorists or nationalists, despite having shaped the history of the movement. They have continuously been reduced to figureheads such as “Mother of the Nation” or “Mother of the Liberation Struggle”; additionally, the ruling party does not have a succession plan as most of the senior leaders have been there since the 1991 conference and therefore there has never been a new generation of leaders in the party. South Africa’s ruling party has been swamped by a wide range of challenges ranging from lack of political consciousness, careerism, ostentatious behaviour and factional tendencies. The paper argues that while the decline of the party cannot be attributed to two things, the atrophied state of the party, and specifically its patriarchy and ageism has been a contributing factor. That patriarchy and ageism have made it impossible for the ANC to be a vibrant institution through which there is an emergence of a leadership that is intellectually astute, morally above reproach and professionally grounded, with a thorough grasp of governance.