Sisulu receives boost from ANC Women’s League branches

JOHANNESBURG - ANC NEC member and presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu’s campaign received a major boost from various branches of the ANC Women’s League in Gauteng.

The Braamfischer branch of the Women's League hosted Sisulu at the Nkone Maruping Primary School in Braamfischer, Joburg, where members of the league packed the school hall on Sunday.

The event, part of the Lindiwe Sisulu Presidential Candidature Programme, saw more than 16 zones and branches of the league, with some of the members coming as far as Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and West Rand.

Sisulu’s last-ditch campaign to emerge as ANC president received a boost from most of the Gauteng regions, who decried the lack of women's representation in the current ANC top six, which had only one woman representative in former deputy secretary Jessie Duarte, who died of cancer earlier this year.

Sisulu paid tribute to Duarte and Chris Hani and called the granting of parole to Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus, a sad thing to have happened in the country.

“They killed him (Hani), but I don’t remember seeing the killer being asked to apologise to the people of South Africa. Yesterday, his killer was released without having apologised. We must also take this opportunity to thank one of our own, Comrade Jessie Duarte. She was like a big sister to me and a courageous woman,” Sisulu said.

Sisulu did not receive enough nominations from branches to appear on the ballot and openly challenge President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zweli Mkhize, according to the ANC electoral committee.

Last month, Sisulu disputed the nominations list and wrote a letter to electoral committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe saying announcements were made despite several outstanding matters, and that nominations in her favour from branch general meetings were not considered when making the announcement.

She is expected to receive nominations from the floor in order for her to contest for the ANC president position at the coming 55th national conference, set to take place at Nasrec from Friday, December 16 to Tuesday, December 20.

Sisulu pleaded with the members to support her candidacy for the position of ANC president at Nasrec and said that whatever the outcome of the conference, she would accept it.

“The ANC is a voluntary organisation that has freed us. It has liberated us. We need to make sure that the ANC lives forever. Help us make the ANC live forever, and we need you as women to help us do that. We need members of the ANC to work together in order for the party to live forever. We are going to the ANC conference in just under a week from now. You must make sure that you elect the right leaders, and please choose carefully those who will be accountable to you. That is the only way we can ensure that the ANC lives forever,” she said.

In spite of her slim chance of becoming ANC president having been dimmed by the recent announcement by the electoral committee, Sisulu said she was willing to put up a good fight, and that she was as capable as her male counterparts, if not better.

“I am extremely grateful for the support on the eve of the 55th national conference. People will speak up and say whatever they want to say. Whatever the outcome, I will use this support to stand for the position of ANC president because I am as equal and capable as the men I am standing against. When I went out of the country at the age of 21 years of age, I stood head and shoulders above men and even now I stand head above with any man in the world …

“According to our Constitution, we are all equal and capable as men, and I will go into the conference also as the chairperson of the transformation committee in order to continue the fight against GBV and abuse of children and women,” Sisulu said.