Lindiwe Sisulu
A meeting of the ANC’s most powerful women has resolved to support Lindiwe Sisulu for a position in the party’s presidency ahead of Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
While Sisulu will probably not receive an endorsement from the task team running the troubled ANC Women’s league, the backing of influential female players could help her cause.
At the ruling party’s 2017 Nasrec conference, the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) supported Dlamini Zuma ahead of Sisulu, who had also campaigned for the position but defected to Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 faction at the 11th hour.
Three sources who attended this weekend’s meeting told Mail & Guardian that Sisulu was chosen as the most viable female candidate for the ANC’s December elective conference. The M&G is aware that women with strong constituencies in the party from at least seven of the ANC provinces attended the meeting.
Those invited included former ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini, Susan Shabangu, former Free State ANCWL leader Olly Mlamleli, eThekwini regional leader and KwaZulu-Natal heavyweight Zandile Gumede, Mpumalanga provincial deputy secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali and former league secretary general Meokgo Matuba.
Also present were the Northern Cape’s Nkagisang Ngesi, Gauteng leader and parliamentary chair of the portfolio committee on women, youth and persons with disabilities Nonhlanhla Ncube-Ndaba and powerful female players from the Eastern Cape. It is unclear whether all ANC women leaders attended the meeting.
The sources said while some of the female leaders called for women to stand by Dlamini Zuma, Sisulu received resounding support for a position in the ANC presidency.
One of the women who attended said Dlamini fought for Dlamini Zuma, but her influence fell short. Those in attendance are said to have been frustrated with Dlamini Zuma’s failure to advance the agenda for women after she was appointed to Ramaphosa’s cabinet.
Another source said the women leaders were also of the view that Dlamini Zuma had received her due support from the league, and it was now Sisulu’s turn. Dlamini Zuma’s open backing from former president Jacob Zuma, her ex-husband, also weighed against her.
“There is not much that I can say badly about NDZ. We could not find any strong reason to support her,” a powerful leader who attended the meeting said.
“We cannot be seen as proponents of men and unfortunately, she has based her campaign around the former president again, and that will not do anything for the advancement of the women’s agenda.”
Part of the frustration around Dlamini Zuma was her coming late into the campaign. The source added that the female leaders were also of the view that Sisulu would not be bullied into abandoning women’s agenda within the presidency and the party.
One source said the message that Dlamini Zuma would not be supported by women leaders would be conveyed to her this week. Another meeting of women to craft a campaign strategy around Sisulu is likely to take place in the coming week.
While Sisulu is unlikely to receive an endorsement from the ANCWL task team, a vote of confidence from powerful female players including Mlamlemi, Gumede, Ntshalintshali and Dlamini could tilt the tables in her favour as she goes head-to-head with Ramaphosa, Dlamini Zuma and Zweli Mkhize.
The move by the ANC women could cause a fracture in the Dlamini Zuma and Sisulu alliance. Both senior ANC leaders had hoped the women’s meeting would work in their favour, given that Mkhize and more so Ramaphosa have received endorsements from provincial executive committees.
In March, the M&G reported that the ANC women’s league appeared to have found no inspiration to actively campaign for candidates seeking office.
An organisational report presented by Dlamini during a national working committee meeting said there was general fatigue among members and the politics of patronage had neutralised and dampened women’s spirit. She added that ANC leaders often imposed on women leaders that favoured them, as an avenue towards getting the vote of women.
Dlamini also said there was also concern that women in cabinet positions were not driving the agenda for women.
The women’s league task team, which is predominantly pro-Ramaphosa, has opted to focus on claiming the entire ANC secretary general’s office for women.
Nomvula Mokonyane, Fébé Potgieter-Gqubule and Gwen Ramokgopa are likely to benefit from the ANCWL’s support as they have been touted for the ANC secretary general and deputy secretary general positions.
The troubled women’s league — which was disbanded in April after the ANC accepted a recommendation from Defence Minister Thandi Modise — is unlikely to hold its own conference before the ANC’s elective conference in December.
The national executive committee appointed Modise to head a panel to evaluate the status of the league before its elective conference. This was after then-ANCWL president Dlamini was found guilty of perjury in March after lying under oath during an inquiry into her role in the 2018 South African Social Security Agency grant payments debacle. Dlamini was the minister of social development at the time.
In June, former speaker of the national assembly Baleka Mbete was appointed to head the league task team alongside Ramokgopa and MaQueen Letsoha. She said the league would be able to hold its conference in April 2023, adding that the task team was busy with the organisation’s renewal.
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