I don’t support slate politics, Sisulu on Ramaphosa snub

African National Congress presidential candidate and Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Monday said she did not support “slate politics”, saying she was standing as an individual for the ANC’s top job.

This after Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa broke with ANC tradition and announced his preferred leadership team, should he be elected next month as the governing party’s next leader.

‘She has refused to have a slate of her own, she is standing as an individual’

Speaking on Sunday at a campaign rally in Limpopo, Ramaphosa named Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor as his female running mate and snubbed Sisulu, who was widely expected to be part of the deputy president’s slate going into the conference.

Sisulu’s campaign told EWN on Monday she was approached by Ramaphosa’s team to be his deputy, but she turned down the offer because she did not believe in slates, saying Sisulu felt that she was ready to lead the ANC herself.

“She has refused to have a slate of her own, she is standing as an individual, saying I am ready to become president of the ANC,” Sisulu’s campaign spokesperson, Phakamile Ximiya, said.

Sisulu said she wanted to end slate politics in the ANC as they were a foreign practice that would eventually destroy the party.

Meanwhile, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe on Monday described as unacceptable presidential hopefuls announcing “a lineup of comrades to be elected as officials” during the ruling party’s elective conference in December.

“Such pronouncements are unacceptable, whether comrades have a preference or not and seek to usurp the entrenched right of the branches to nominate candidates of their choosing,” Mantashe said.

“The 2015 National General Council resolved to outlaw slates and reaffirm the role of the branch as the basic unit of the ANC. Accordingly, in implementing this resolution, the NEC directed that we ensure branch nominations are not tampered with and that the will of the branches is reflected and respected.”

Mantashe, who himself was named as being part of Ramaphosa’s slate, called on the party’s leaders to desist from circulating slates.

-Additional reporting African News Agency

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