By Zukile Majova
Day two of the ANC conference ended with an embarrassment for Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu who failed to get the support of 25% of the delegates when she was nominated from the floor for the position of treasurer general.
For months she traversed the length and breadth of the country touting herself as the next president of the country; even insulting her boss, incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa.
That charade ended when the 3 900 branches of the ANC did not nominate her to officially contest this position at the 55 national conference currently underway at Nasrec, Johannesburg.
In a live broadcast session; the minister accepted the nomination to contest the position of treasurer general along with Bejani Chauke, the special adviser to the president; Pule Mabe the national spokesperson; and Mzwandile Masina, the former mayor of Ekurhuleni.
Sisulu immediately trended on Twitter when she failed to garner 1 109 votes required to officially contest a top seven position.
Despite this setback, the overall strategy of the women’s caucus in the ANC won them two important victories on the day.
First, they successfully pushed the conference to amend the constitution to include a second deputy secretary among the office bearers, turning the top six into a top seven.
The second victory was the successful nomination of more women for the top seven positions and then giving themselves better chances of winning the position.
Earlier Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said they would try to ensure strong women don’t contest each other for the same position to avoid canceling each other out.
Voting for the ANC top seven is scheduled to start at 9am on Sunday morning.
Here are the candidates nominated for the ANC Top Seven positions:
President: Incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa and former health minister Zweli Mkhize.
Deputy President: ANC treasurer Paul Mashatile, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
National Chairperson: incumbent national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, Limpopo premier Stanley Mathabatha and Deputy Finance minister David Masondo.
Secretary-general: Transport minister Fikile Mbalula, former EC premier Phumulo Masualle, and former KwaZulu-Natal secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli.
First deputy secretary: Former Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, and ANC MP Tina Joemat-Peterson.
Second deputy secretary: ANCWL national coordinator Maropene Ramokgopa, and Ronalda Nalumango.
Treasurer-general: Bejani Chauke the special adviser to the president, Pule Mabe the national spokesperson and Mzwandile Masina the former mayor of Ekurhuleni.
Pictured above: Lindiwe Sisulu
