Minister front-runner for ANCWL presidency
SOCIAL Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini yesterday emerged as KwaZuluNatal’s preferred candidate to take over as the president of the ANC Women’s League.
The league is expected to elect new leadership this month, with top positions up for contest.
Speaking after the provincial general council held in Durban, deputy provincial secretary Weziwe Thusi said the council resolved to throw its weight behind Dlamini to succeed incumbent Angie Motshekga.
“Dlamini is one of our matured and dedicated cadres who is capable of taking the ANCWL to greater heights,” Thusi said.
Thusi, who is also the KZN Social Development MEC, said the council also nominated Free State Social Development MEC Sisi Ntombela as deputy president, and North West provincial secretary Meokgo Matuba to become the secretary-general.
Eastern Cape Safety and Security MEC Weziwe Tikana was nominated as deputy secretary-general and International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane as treasurer.
However, the council did not fill the vacant provincial secretary position, as expected, until after the party’s upcoming elec- tive congress.
Thusi blamed the non-election on lack of time at the provincial general council, which ended yesterday morning due to most of its time being spent on policy matters.
“Delegates from all 11 regions looked at policy matters to judge whether such policies are being implemented correctly, to assess what changes needed to be made and what gaps to be filled to ensure that the ANCWL continues to champion the interests of women in South Africa and beyond our borders,” she said.
Meanwhile, the league in KZN has broken ranks with the league’s national policy conference which last year proposed the banning of “harmful cultural practices” like ukuhlola (virginity testing).
Thusi said the weekend meeting unanimously agreed that virginity testing played an important role in ensuring young women did not engage in sexual activities. This, she said, curbed unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV-Aids.
“Delegates acknowledged that ukuhlola is part of cultural practices passed from generation to generation which has to be respected.
“They, however, echoed that virginity testing must continue to be regulated to ensure that it is voluntary and that the rights of our young women are not violated,” Thusi said.