Women are their own worst enemy – Dikgosi
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday March 22, 2022 06:00
But they rather said women are their own worst enemies because it is evident that they do not support each other as they hold the largest percentage of the country’s population, but they support men over their counterparts.
This follows a question raised by The Monitor to Dikgosi on culture as a barrier to women’s political participation in Botswana.
The representation of women in the Botswana Parliament remains the lowest in Southern African Development Community (SADC) region at 11% after only increasing by just one percent from 10% in 2014 to 11% in 2019.
The Monitor quizzed traditional leaders if they still hold the sentiment that ‘women cannot lead’ like the Setswana idiom of ‘ga nke di etelelwa pele ke e namagadi’.
Responding to the question, Dikgosi say they have observed that women are their own enemies because they have a pull-down syndrome of not supporting each other. The two traditional leaders implored women to support each other because the Setswana saying that ‘ga nke di etelelwa pele ke e namagadi’ was meant for bogosi, not political leadership.
The Dikgosi said women are capable leaders and have proven so even in the chieftainship as they hold the position of bogosi and doing exceptionally well.
Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele of Bahurutshe boo-Manyana said it is evident that women vie to destroy each other because despite holding the largest percentage of the country’s population they support men over fellow women.
He said women have natural hatred for each other something that is demonstrated by the declining numbers of women in politics and representation in Parliament.
“Naturally women are mean towards each other. The meanness and negativity emanating from other women towards the other are reflective of how they vote. It seems like women naturally are rivals and cannot support each other. For example, even when a woman is contesting for a beauty pageant, the people who will be attacking her on social media in high numbers would be fellow women, this is the natural hate that I am talking about,” he said.
Mosielele added that women should believe in themselves as they have proven to be capable leaders but still lag in politics because they do not support each other. He called on women in politics to do more to sensitise women on the importance of women-to-women support because they can achieve a lot.
Sharing the same sentiments, Kgosi Thabo Masunga Maruje III said women should organise themselves and have clear reforms because women make the largest percentage of the country’s population but rather they support men over women.
Maruje admitted that patriarchy has disadvantaged women in the past, but there is a need to establish if it was the culture or its just characteristics of men.
He said yes women will have to go through challenges because politics is a male-dominated environment but they can achieve a lot if they support each other.
“It is evident that women do not support each other because women in politics do contest but never make it to Parliament despite women making the largest number of voters,” Maruje said.
“Women-to-women issues are complex because they do not support each other’s breakthrough but as traditional leaders, we support and believe women are capable leaders because they are doing a great job as mothers. Women should look at their structures and reforms consider sensitizing fellow women on the importance of supporting each other.”
Maruje said SADC heads of government have committed themselves to reach 30% representation of women in political decision-making structures hence women should take advantage of this by supporting each other.
He too stated that the Setswana idiom of ‘ga nke di etelelwa pele ke e namagadi’ is for bogosi, not politic.