Kubayi throws hat in ring to become ANC’s first woman deputy president

The ANC’s elective conference is expected to see a major turning point, with several candidates gunning for the ANC deputy president position, including newly nominated Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation and national executive committee (NEC) member Mmamoloko Kubayi seen as a potential candidate.

As the NEC met over the weekend to finalise the direction for the nomination of its NEC members, the Moloto Tambane ward 14 branch in Soweto nominated Kubayi for the position.

She would be the first woman to serve as ANC deputy president in its history if she is elected.

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Political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast said although the ANC pursued an agenda of transformation which sought to promote the inclusion of women, it was only in theory because women were on the back foot in terms of representation in the state machinery, private sector and ANC.

He said the party had fallen short in making sure there was a “50-50 agenda” representation in leadership positions.

“The problem lay with how patriarchy was embedded in that party,” he said. “The ANC is a microcosm of society where men did not want to let go of their privileges, and these were factors which needed to be taken into account” in terms Kubayi, 44, standing for the position of deputy president.

Ideally it would make sense to put in a younger person. It was worrying how some men question the proposal of a women in leadership and her readiness but the question would not arise if it was a male candidate.

“There were different standards women were held to,” he said.

Kubayi was a good candidate, Breakfast said, and the party needed a “breath of fresh air”. However, ascending to a position was one thing but holding onto it was another.

“Politics was not only about the ideological framework one subscribed to, but it was also about maneuverability,” he said.

“To manoeuvre one needed strategies of survival and to be able to implement their vision, which was the challenge.”

Kubayi said against candidates such as ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile and NEC members Ronald Lamola, Jeff Radebe, Thandi Modise and Vuyiswa Tulelo, this would be a difficult journey.

Someone told her she was brave to raise her hand because people were afraid, she said.

“It is scary, I must say, but we will be breaking barriers… “This is not about me only, it is about us breaking the ceiling in the ANC of women leadership and making history,” she said.

Political analyst Levy Ndou said it was important Kubayi was supported by structures within the ANC.

The possible problem could be how Kubayi and other members, such as President Cyril Ramaphosa, Gauteng premier David Makhura and Mashatile came from Gauteng, and it would not be wise for the province to monopolise the top six.

“It would require lobbying and compromises from other provinces,” he said.

Questions stand on where this left incumbent deputy president David Mabuza?  Ndou said he had made it clear he could continue in the position if Ramaphosa was president.

“Kubayi had to check whether she could contest against Mabuza,” he said.

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