The ANC Women's League used the occasion of Mother's Day to stir up support against the "demons of patriarchy" by electing female leaders.
"The ANCWL's call for women leadership in and outside the ANC is not a sexiest call but a struggle against the demons of patriarchy which are hell-bent in reducing women into nothing but second class citizens," said the league's secretary, Meokgo Matuba, in a statement issued on Sunday.
"It is the struggle to demand gender equality in all fronts," she added.
She said Sunday's celebrations should "also be a day to reflect on the role of mothers in building the nation".
Over the last few months, the ANC Women's League has been highly vocal in its endorsement of former African Union commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the next leader of the ruling party.