‘We’re not isolating her’ – Bathabile Dlamini cleared to run for ANCWL top post

The African National Congress Women’s League’s (ANCWL) National Task Team (NTT) says it cannot “isolate” former leader Bathabile Dlamini as she has been cleared to participate in all activities of the organisation.

The ANCWL NTT held a media briefing on Thursday on the outcomes of its meeting ahead of its 13th national conference.

The National Task Team (NTT) of the ANCWL was appointed in June 2022 following the decision of the ANC to disband the ANCWL NEC.

The primary mandate of the NTT was to put structures of the ANCWL in place from branch to national level and to prepare for the 13th National Conference within 12 months.

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The 13th National Conference of the ANCWL will be held on 17-19 June 2023 at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.

According to the ANCWL NTT, the conference will have 2,980 branches participating from across the country. Each branch will be allocated one delegate for every 50 members in good standing and one extra delegate for each additional 100 members.

Bathabile Dlamini

Dlamini and the Women’s League made headlines last year after she was appointed as a member of the NTT, despite her perjury case.

The former social development minister was last April slapped with a suspended jail sentence and a fine in her perjury case.

She was found guilty of perjury for lying under oath at an inquiry, which had investigated her role in the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) 2017 crisis.

At the time, Magistrate Betty Khumalo stated that she was satisfied that the former minister had lied under oath.

“The accused is accordingly sentenced to a fine of R200,000 or four years imprisonment and half of the sentence is suspended for a period of five years on the condition that the accused is not convicted on the offence of perjury,” Khumalo ruled at the time.

‘We cannot isolate her’

When Dlamini was appointed as a member of the ANCWL NTT, the structure at the time said it could not “unpack” what the ANC “would do or not do” with her.

However, it appears all is well after task team member Pinky Kekana said on Thursday nothing disqualified Dlamini from participating in all activities of the party.

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“Comrade Bathabile Dlamini, like any other member of the ANC, has every right to participate in structures of the ANC. And we’re not isolating her,” said Kekana during a media briefing.

“The ANC processed all the things around Bathabile and the fact that she is sitting in the NEC of the ANC … remember, you are first a member of the ANC before you are a member of the ANCWL. Branches of the ANC WL are aligned to the processes of vetting and who must participate as a member in good standing of the ANC.

“The fact that the ANC has dealt with the issue of comrade Bathabile means she can then participate. So now that she has gone through all the processes, we cannot subject her to any isolation.”