Sequel to Long Walk to Freedom - Revision 2 - Chapter 4 Page 12

I suspected that the fact that I was proposing a female comrade, at that time, irrespective of her qualifications, did not go down well to those comrades, the overwhelming majority of whom were males. There had also been some differences, and even in-fighting, among exiles abroad which were still evident in their work inside the country. I, however, made it clear to all concerned that I would tolerate no unprincipled objection to a competent comrade from an organisation which had been entrusted with the awesome task of governing the wealthiest and most developed country on the African continent. I virtually ordered that every ANC parliamentarian should vote for her as Speaker. The other difficulty had come from Frene herself. She telephoned me one morning and demanded to know why there were so few women in the Cabinet. In replying to her I added that I would ensure that she became the Speaker. She vehemently protested that she was not talking about herself; she was raising a general issue which affected all women. 51