ANC shuns Sisulu’s visit to Mopani region
Leadership says that it was not informed
Human settlements minister and ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Lindiwe Sisulu’s visit to Mohlabaneng village in the Mopani region, Limpopo at the weekend, was not embraced by ANC provincial leaders.
Sisulu, who has entered the race to replace President Jacob Zuma as ANC leader, visited the ANC Lebaka branch in a bid to woo support for her campaign ahead of the elective conference in December.
The move by the ANC leaders in the province and some regional leaders not to receive Sisulu with open arms could be a blow to her campaign.
The ANC in the province is divided between frontrunners Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
ANC provincial spokeswoman Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said yesterday the provincial executive committee (PEC) was not aware of Sisulu’s visit. “When NEC members are deployed to the province, the SG [secretary-general Gwede Mantashe] normally informs us.
“If the regional structure invites a leader, they equally inform the PEC,” she said.
Ntshavheni said if Sisulu was in the province on government business, co-operative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs MEC Makoma Makhurupetje would have accompanied her.
Makhurupetje, who is apparently backing Dlamini-Zuma to be the next ANC leader, did not join Sisulu at the event.
Musician Malo-A-Botsheba, a known Zuma loyalist who is among ANC members who invited Sisulu, hit back asking: “Are we not allowed to invite ANC leaders?” He said the ANC Lebaka branch did not want to get involved in factional battles within the ANC.
Sisulu’s presidential campaign spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said Sisulu was invited by local branches of the ANC and the ANC Women’s League.