An Eastern Cape mayor has sent an SOS to national and provincial ANC bosses, pleading for their intervention in what she described as “emotional and political abuse” allegedly endured by women leaders of the party in the province.
Inxuba Yethemba municipality mayor Noncedo Zonke penned a letter of complaint to Luthuli House and Calata House this week, listing many instances of “unbearable” and “humiliating” treatment she had allegedly endured at the hands of her male ANC colleagues in the Chris Hani region.
The mistreatment, Zonke said, included being “pressured to take decisions that have legal consequences”.
In her confidential letter, dated February 4 and seen by the Daily Dispatch, Zonke said she was “tired, hurt and emotionally drained from trying to lead under conditions that have become unbearable”.
She said she was “constantly insulted, undermined and verbally attacked” by some of her colleagues in the party.
Since she took over the mayorship, Zonke said, some male ANC councillors had worked to destabilise the council, including allegedly voting with opposition parties and absenting themselves from critical meetings, thus delaying “decisions that affect our people”.
The Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality is based in Nxuba, formerly Cradock.
On Thursday, Zonke confirmed writing the letter but said she could not comment because she was attending a provincial government lekgotla in East London.
In the letter addressed to the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, ANC Women’s League president Sisisi Tolashe and provincial women’s league deputy secretary Khosi Nongqayi, Zonke accused some of her comrades in the Chris Hani region of creating instability in her municipality.
She copied her complaint to ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi.
Numerous attempts to reach Mbalula, Tolashe and Nongqayi were unsuccessful on Thursday.
It is obvious that we do need to listen to her and the regional leadership as a matter of urgency. But we will await the directive of the national office.
— Noncedo Zonke, Inxuba Yethemba municipality mayor
Ngukayitobi confirmed receiving the letter but said he could not comment on its contents because it was addressed to the national ANC office.
“We will await guidance on the matter from the national office.
“It is obvious that we do need to listen to her and the regional leadership as a matter of urgency. But we will await the directive of the national office,” he said.
In her letter, Zonke urged the ANC leaders to intervene urgently over what she described as sustained emotional, political and gender-based abuse within the party.
She said instead of her comrades resolving issues internally and organisationally, “instability is fuelled within the very structures that should protect unity and discipline”.
“I write this letter not only as the executive mayor of Inxuba Yethemba, not only as a member of the ANC, but as a woman who is tired, hurt and emotionally drained from trying to lead under conditions that have become unbearable.”
Zonke said she was not writing in anger but in pain.
“I am writing because I have reached a point where keeping quiet would mean accepting that what is happening to me is normal, and it is not.
“It is painful to lead as a woman in the Eastern Cape ANC Chris Hani region. The difficulty is not the work. The difficulty is the treatment.”
She alleged that she has been repeatedly “insulted, undermined and verbally attacked” by male ANC officials in public spaces, including at organisational meetings and conferences.
When I refuse to act outside the law, I am labelled ‘defiant’. Since when did obeying legislation become rebellion?
— Zonke
According to Zonke, this had taken a personal toll, causing her to question her worth and strength as a leader.
“This is not political engagement. It feels like intimidation. And as a woman, it feels deeply gendered.
“When I refuse to act outside the law, I am labelled ‘defiant’. Since when did obeying legislation become rebellion?”
She also raised concerns about what she described as deliberate destabilisation in council structures, claiming that some male councillors had undermined council processes by absconding from critical meetings and voting with opposition parties.
She said she had reported this conduct, but no steps had been taken against those responsible.
Zonke said the situation had escalated to what she described as “organised humiliation” during recent regional conferences, where branches were allegedly discouraged from electing her based on false allegations.
Despite the personal nature of her appeal, Zonke stressed that her letter spoke to a broader problem facing women leaders in the province.
“Sometimes, in my most difficult moments, I ask myself: Are women truly allowed to lead? Or are we expected to suffer in silence to prove that we are strong?”
Zonke said she now feared for her life.
Attempts to get comment from Chris Hani ANC regional chair Lusanda Sizani and regional secretary Andile Mini were unsuccessful by the time of publication.
Daily Dispatch
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