Women’s league gets two premiers
Ntombela, Mtsweni to take over in Free State and Mpumalanga
The ANC is moving to appease the women’s league after its failed bid to have Minister in the Presidency Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma elected ANC president in December.
The league’s deputy president Sisi Ntombela, who led Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign along with the ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini, has been appointed the premierelect for Free State.
In Mpumalanga, ANCWL provincial executive committee member and cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Refilwe Mtsweni was nominated as the premier-elect for that province.
The two women are taking over from Deputy President David Mabuza and ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, respectively. They now have to be nominated in their provincial legislatures where the ANC is in the majority.
Magashule yesterday said at the party’s headquarters in Johannesburg, Luthuli House, that the ANC continued to recognise the existing leadership capacity of women within the party.
Ntombela said she was going to do her best to unite Free State. “It is not going to be easy just because I am a woman. All of us know that we come from the conference and we have a mandate,” she said.
Mtsweni said as government they will work hard to address the challenges faced by the people of Mpumalanga.
Magashule said the Free State provincial task team (PTT) had been reconstituted.
It now includes ANC veterans such as former provincial executive committee member Joyce Mthembu.
“We have met the comrades. We listened to their request. There were two groups who came to national to say we think we must expand the PTT.”
But, Magashule said, ill-disciplined ANC members from Free State were going to be hauled before the party’s national disciplinary committee.
Magashule said the ANC in the Eastern Cape would only know next week whether the Oscar Mabuyane-led provincial executive committee was a legitimate structure.
Magashule said the national working committee had received the much-talked about Sbu Ndebele report for “noting”, and the national executive committee of the ruling party would have the final say on the matter at its meeting scheduled for next weekend.
Ndebele along with Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Sdumo Dlamini and Joyce Moloi-Moropa were assigned to investigate events leading to the throwing of chairs during the October 2017 elective conference in East London.
Mabuyane was challenging premier Phumulo Masualle for the provincial chairmanship. When Mabuyane was elected chairman, Masualle and his supporters went to Luthuli House to challenge the legitimacy of the conference outcomes.