Political Resolutions of the COSATU 9th National Congress, 18-21 September 2006

1-6 Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa

This Ninth National Congress notes:

1. This year, 50 years after the 1956 women’s march to Pretoria to protest the pass laws, the struggle for women’s total emancipation is far from over.
2. The way in which gender issues are raised, even in the past decade of our democracy, has focused mostly on women representivity at the expense of broader issues affecting women.
3. The current top-down approach adopted by organisers of the National Women’s Movement (NWM) undermines the intention of empowering women in all sectors of society.
4. The emergence of other social and support groups like the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa aiming to empower women, which could however be hijacked by elitist and BEE-type groups, which would reproduce and exacerbate the economic and social oppression of women and widening inequalities in South Africa.

Believing:

1. The time has come for the working class of South Africa, 12 years into democracy, to define a clear working-class perspective on the thorny issue of not only the triple (class, national and gender) oppression and exploitation of women, but also how to most effectively mobilise all working-class women and men to struggle for full and true equality within and between the sexes.
2. The same radical approach that we have used to fight racial discrimination and class oppression must be adopted in the struggle to fight for gender inequality and women.
3. The struggle for gender equality should be waged by women and men. The gender content of our revolution cannot be addressed effectively unless we have a strong working-class-led progressive women’s movement at the head of such a struggle.

Therefore this Ninth National Congress resolves:

1. A forum of women activists within COSATU and SACP should be established to develop intervention strategies to promote working-class leadership as well as take up issues affecting women workers and the poor within the progressive women’s movement.
2. To support the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa and its aim of empowering women and removing gender bias. All women in South Africa must own the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa.
3. COSATU should build a new working relationship with the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa only around specific issues that are pro-poor and pro-women workers.
4. COSATU Provincial Gender Structures must be the driving force to take issues to the Progressive National Women’s Movement of South Africa. The gender structures must:

a. Develop a clear programme that deals with poor women’s struggles in society, and
b. Develop a clear reporting structure, i.e. at local level, regional level, provincial and national level.

5. Women in COSATU must be encouraged to join the ANC and SACP women structures.