Deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sisisi Tolashe has emerged victorious at the 13th ANC Women’s League elective conference in Nasrec, south of Joburg.
Of 3 065 votes Tolashe was named the ANCWL new president on Sunday, having received 1 727 votes.
Tolashe trounced ANC MP Thembeka Mchunu and former ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini, who obtained 1 038 and 170 votes respectively.
She replaces Dlamini who lost the position when the league was disbanded.
Dlamini contested for then position after it emerged last week that she was giving it another run, briefly introducing her campaign BD23 at the 11th hour.
Meanwhile, Tolashe’s righthand woman will be Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe who received 1 661 votes to claim the position of the ANCWL’s deputy president.
The position of secretary-general went to Nokuthula Ncaba who received 1 661 votes while her contenders Lydia Moroane-Zitha received 1 081 and Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe’s 229 votes.
The position of deputy secretary-general went to former disgraced communications minister Dina Pule who, in a surprise twist, emerged victorious after she was nominated from the floor. She trumped her opponents and received 1713 votes while her other contenders Makoma Makhurupetje garnered 1 035 votes and Winnie Ngwenya 181 votes.
The position of treasurer-general went to MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae, who walked away with 2608 votes followed by Manketsi Tlhape who received 281 votes.
ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the conference moments after the new leadership of the ANCWL was announced.
“As members of the ANCWL and of course as a broader democratic movement to achieve nothing less than equality for women in every sphere of life,” Ramaphosa said in his closing address at the conference.
“Our efforts must be focused on economic and social empowerment of women,” he said.
In his address Ramaphosa listed what he described as 10 tasks the ANCWL should take up.
He said the women’s league should take up and ensure that emancipation of women both at social and economic level does happen in their lifetime.
“The socio-economic advancement of women must become a deliberate feature of our work in government, in the economy, in business and in every area of South African life whether in sports, formations and organizations,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said women should be provided with access to quality education and training so that they could participate meaningfully in the economic life of the country.
“This includes gender equality, vocational and skills development.
Young women must be able to stay in school, proceed to further education and study what they want.
“We must ensure that girls and young women participate in all areas of education, especially science, technology, engineering and so on.”
He also said the league should focus on and insist on ensuring that women have access to economic assets and financial resources, as “women often face barriers in accessing financial resources”.
Cape Times