Johannesburg - Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s chances of succeeding Jacob Zuma have received a boost from the ANC Women’s League.
Dlamini-Zuma is expected to challenge for the position of president of the ANC.
The league emphasised its stance on Sunday that the next president of the ANC must be a woman. It also expressed concern over calls for an early ANC conference.
The league’s pronouncements on the succession discussion within the ANC add to growing lobbying around how the ANC will decide its future.
“We are not backing down on our mandate that the next president of the ANC must be a woman,” ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini said.
The league was against calls for an early conference.
“There can be no justification of an (early) ANC conference without ensuring we have strong branches in good standing that would deliberate on matters to be taken to conference, including the issues that society raised,” she said.
Dlamini said an early conference would derail the ANC from immediate challenges.
“An early conference would defocus our attention to issues that we have identified that need to be dealt with urgently, such as the situation in our universities and education in general, issues of economic empowerment of women and gender-based-violence issues,” she said.
The ANCWL’s stance comes as calls grow for the ANC to hold an early conference following its dismal performance in the municipal elections.
The ANC in Gauteng is the latest to call for an early consultative conference.
“The most important decision taken by the extended PEC (provincial executive committee) meeting unanimously is the call for a broad ANC-led special national consultative conference attended by the alliance as well as different formations and sectors of the democratic movement who are committed to thorough-going transformation,” it said.
There was also a need to agree on the necessary interventions to help the party deal with its challenges.
The Star