DURBAN – Lindiwe Sisulu’s campaign to be elected as ANC president in the 55th national conference next year has begun in earnest.
The Daily News has learnt that Sisulu’s name has been raised by various regions and sub-regions across the length and breadth of the country. She was also apparently being backed by some ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) regional structures to run for the presidency. It has yet to be seen if her presidential ambitions will get the nod from the ANCWL's national structure.
In the Western Cape she is said to be enjoying big support from the Boland, Karoo and Overberg regions. Her Boland backer Patrice Mangena said the region was fully behind her and would make sure, working with others, she gets elected as the first ANC woman president in the 55th elective conference next year.
Mangena described Sisulu as a leader who has everything it takes to lead the ANC, saying her childhood background right up until now speaks for itself. He said the fact that she was born and raised by Walter and Albertina Sisulu who were well respected ANC stalwarts, combined with her struggle credentials makes her the perfect choice for the position.
“At this point where our movement is beset by problems we needed someone who knows the ANC better and we could not find a better comrade than her to take the party forward.
“Comrade Lindiwe has served the movement in government since 1994 with distinction and had served the organisation during apartheid so she knows both sides of the coin. ANC is not a political party but a liberation movement and a leader of society so comrade Lindiwe fits in this position in all aspects,” Mangena said.
He further said there were serious engagements with the Women’s League and has indicated that they would back her, adding that most of the people who supported Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were throwing their weight behind Sisulu.
Mangena said he was ashamed when he saw EFF leader Julius Malema honouring the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela by naming its headquarters after her because such a thing was supposed to have been done by the ANC.
Mphumzi Mdekazi, Sisulu’s political advisor said: “Minister Sisulu is still observing that, also her focus is on the upcoming local government elections as the KZN deployee.”
“However, as you are all aware, it is the masses and the rank and file within the ANC that select and elect the person they see as their leader. As a person who has worked all her life to uphold the name, principles and resolutions of the organisation, Minister Sisulu has never disappointed when given a political responsibility. This is evident in how she handled matters when she was asked to implement the resolution of the ANC on Israel, she executed that, and she paid a huge political price for it. That’s the life of a revolutionary, many within the ANC are aware that the Minister is a revolutionary to the core.”
Mdekazi said revolutionaries are never scared of tasks ahead of them, every area is a site of struggle.
“I guess she will go where the organisation/the masses leads her,” Mdekazi said.
The Boland region includes Stellenbosch Municipality while Overberg includes the Cape Agulhas Municipality.
In the Eastern Cape which is her home province, she is believed to have charmed Chris Hani, Dr Rubusana, Nelson Mandela Bay, Joe Gqabi, Amathole and Alfred Nzo regions.
Her lobbyist in Dr Rubusana region, Siya Mgijima, confirmed that most of the sub-regions want her to ascend to the ANC throne next year.
The region includes East London and King William’s Town.
He said in 2017 most of the sub-region including his branch supported President Cyril Ramaphosa but now they felt that the time had come for a woman president to lead the ANC and saw Sisulu as the right person.
In Gauteng most of Sisulu’s votes were likely to come from the Sedibeng region in the Vaal.
Regional leader and staunch Sisulu backer Pat Manana told the Daily News that on Sunday they will formally pronounce her name in public.
Sedibeng includes sub-regions like Mfuleni and Midvaal.
Other regions that are said to be behind her or enjoy bigger support are Vhembe in Limpopo, Greater Joburg, the Nkomazi sub-region in Mpumalanga as well as eThekwini where the ANCWL is expected to formally pronounce her support. However, the league’s regional secretary Zama Sokhabase has denied these claims revealing that they have not discussed the issue because it must first be canvassed from the provincial women’s structure.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association and senior staff in the Defence Force are known to be backing her.
She threw her hat in the ring in 2017 but withdrew in the last minute to contest the deputy president’s position where she was defeated by current ANC deputy president David Mabuza.
Daily News