Northern Cape ANCWL endorses Ramaphosa for president
Though Dlamini-Zuma is the preferred candidate of the national leadership, a secret ballot was used in the province after both Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa were nominated.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks with union representatives at the 6th Central Comittee of Cosatu at St George’s Hotel in Centurion on 30 May 2017. Ramaphosa discussed the role of the union in the alliance as and received strong support from attendees. Picture: Yeshiel
The ANC Women’s League in Northern Cape has reportedly nominated Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to take over the party at the December elective conference.
This despite the national and provincial leadership’s decision to endorse former AU chairperson and presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Though the decision was made by the league’s president Bathabile Dlamini to make Dlamini-Zuma the first female president in South Africa, a secret ballot was reportedly used in the Northern Cape after both Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa were nominated, News24 has reported.
League provincial secretary Topys Vilaka, who is also on the National Executive Committee, told the publication that she was now forced to support Ramaphosa despite her earlier support for Dlamini-Zuma.
“Whether I like it or not, I have to go out and say this is the position of the Northern Cape… I think I am okay because it was a democratic process.
“There was nothing we could do, as a PEC (Provincial Executive Council) it would have been unconstitutional to go into that meeting and say this is the position. You must all obey and follow this,” she was quoted as saying by the publication.
However, the provincial leagues in Mpumalanga and Limpopo have differed with Northern Cape, endorsing Dlamini-Zuma in a “unanimous” nomination.
Ramaphosa last week made headlines after announcing his preferred leadership team should he be elected next month as the governing party’s next leader.
The leading presidential contender named Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor as his deputy, and snubbed fellow presidential candidate Lindiwe Sisulu.
Ramaphosa’s decision to pick Pandor as his female running mate has been praised as a smart move by political analysts.
Here are some of the deputy president’s proposed ANC top-six leaders:
- National chairperson: ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe
- Secretary-general: former KwaZulu-Natal ANC chairperson Senzo Mchunu
- Treasurer-general: ANC Gauteng chairperson Paul Mashatile
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