ANCWL shocked at ‘search private parts’ remark

The ANCWL expressed shock and dismay after IFP leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, allegedly said the IEC has to search women’s ‘private parts’ at voting stations.

Johannesburg - The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday expressed shock and dismay after Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, allegedly said the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has to search women’s “private parts” at voting stations.

Buthelezi was quoted in KZN-based IsiZulu newspaper, Isolezwe, as having said that the IEC must ensure that women were thoroughly searched, even underneath their underwear, in a bid to ensure that electoral process was not defrauded at the 2016 Municipal Elections on August 3.

He was speaking in uLundi, KZN, at the weekend during his party’s final campaign where he allegedly said he feared the Wednesday local government election would be rigged after ballot boxes were stolen from a delivery vehicle in Diepkloof, Soweto, last week.

In a statement, ANCWL’s provincial secretary Nonhlanhla Msomi said while the ANCWL agreed with the sentiment that the elections should be closely monitored, it found Buthelezi’s call going “overboard” and said it had far-reaching implications.

Msomi said she found Buthelezi’s plea to the IEC “insensitive, disgusting, pedestrian and undermining of the women in the country”.

“The sub-text of Buthelezi’s plea to the IEC is that women could not be trusted, that there are corrupt and should be singled out for this demeaning act. We condemn this in strongest possible terms,” Msomi said.

“In this regard, we urge our colleagues in the IFP Women’s Brigade to call him to order. But it is not too late for Buthelezi to apologise to all women of South Africa that he is insulting.”

Msomi said it was unfortunate that these utterance were being made on the eve of Women’s Month.

“Clearly, Buthelezi’s call that women should be singled out for demeaning treatment, is a frightening reversal of gains made by women in this country and should be strongly condemned by all progressive forces,” Msomi said.

Meanwhile, IFP’s treasurer general and chief whip, Narend Singh, said that Buthelezi has since met with the Mazwi Xaba, the acting editor of Isolezwe to register his complaint about the article.

He said Buthelezi met Xaba at 1pm on Monday.

“My leader is at this moment coming from a meeting with the editor of the newspaper. They will do a full retraction of the article,” Singh said.

Xaba confirmed the meeting and said: “We stand by our reporter but we were happy to meet with Prince Buthelezi today and offered him the right of reply in our newspaper and are following up on the matter. After a preliminary investigation we’ve found that the reporter did his job diligently and properly recorded what was said by the prince.”

In the official speech written in English from Ulundi that was subsequently distributed to the media, there was no mention of the stolen ballot papers.

African News Agency