Cyril Ramaphosa will not succeed Jacob Zuma as president of both the ANC and the country, if women in the party have it their way. In a drastic political move, the ANC Women’s League will push for a woman to lead the ANC, and for more women to be elected into the party’s top six at the ANC’s national conference in 2017.
This emerged at the party’s national policy conference held in Joburg this weekend, where the league also decried the lack of women leading the ANC’s provincial structures.
The party has come under fire in recent times for failing to nominate a female leader at elective conferences, and seemingly being used as voting fodder by factions. However, if the tone of the organisation’s policy conference documents and its leaders are anything to go by, the women’s league will play hard ball as the ANC’s succession battle takes shape ahead of the party’s national general council next year and the national conference in 2017.
AU Commission chairperson and ANC national executive committee member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s name is already being touted as a possible candidate for the leadership come 2017, and the women’s league’s latest stance on the party presidency will bode well for those already lobbying for her.
While the elective conference is three years away, the succession debate is already raging, with the prospects of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa succeeding Jacob Zuma also at the centre of the debate.
Provinces such as Gauteng are said to be discussing 2017 already with other provinces, though it’s still unclear whether they will throw their entire weight behind Ramaphosa or compromise his candidacy to get some of their provincial leaders elected into the top six.
Gauteng chairman Paul Mashatile was given a rousing welcome on Friday when he addressed the opening of the women’s league conference, but steered clear of the succession debate, choosing rather to rally the league behind the provincial ANC’s policies on mining, e-tolls and the establishment of a state bank.
The league’s discussion document, central to discussions at the conference, was clear that the women’s league will look to drive a hard bargain come 2017.
“Currently raging is the debate on a woman president for the ANC, and the debate in the country is led by, and conducted through, the media. This is a legitimate expectation, especially in view of the fact that South Africa has always had women who have excelled in the various fields of their involvement, be it the private sector, professional careers and politics,” it states.
“Whilst the debate about women being elected into strategic positions such as the Presidency should continue, the debate cannot be limited solely to that position. Instead, the discussion should include the election of women into the positions of secretaries or treasurers at national level, or into any position in the Presidency and Treasury.
“It also planned to use these positions to have more women elected into strategic positions of power.
“Clearly, if women were to occupy these positions, this would aid in ensuring that women are also appointed into strategic positions in government such as premierships and the Presidency.
“Some of the usual concerns which are raised about the centres of power would not arise. In addition, it would smooth the situation whereby the deployment of women into strategic positions would not take place outside ANC processes and structures,” the discussion document continues.
There was also a bold admission that the women’s league had been used for factional agendas in the ANC, with leadership being “imposed” on them.
“There have been situations where ANC structures tended to treat the ANCWL structures as mere women’s desks of the ANC. In such situations, the ANC would undermine the autonomous status of the ANCWL, which states that the ANCWL would be guided by its own constitution, and develop and implement its programmes.
“There have been situations where some ANC structures would attempt to influence and impose leadership on the ANCWL. In the main, these actions would have been informed by the desire to manipulate ANCWL members and structures to serve false non-organisational agendas,” it said.
Women’s League treasurer Hlengiwe Mkhize said the leadership of the league was challenging its membership to influence the direction of the ANC on policy issues and the election of leaders from the branch level and other structures of the party.
According to Mkhize, there was a recognition that there was not sufficient representation in the ANC structures, not only the national leadership.
“As the league we have never had a problem (with) influencing policies adopted by the organisation, but we are calling on our membership to use their numbers to get more women elected, whether it is for the position of president, chairpersons or secretaries in their provinces. “How they vote and lobby in the structures will reflect on the leadership. That is why we have a situation where there is only one female premier, and all the provincial chairpersons and secretaries are men. The truth of the matter is that they are the ones who elected those men. The commissions at this conference must seriously look at these issues. They need to do the right thing from branch level.
“All these top positions, including those of the president and deputy president of the ANC, start being elected from branch level,” said Mkhize.