Why Ekurhuleni ANC branch dropped Sisulu for Pandor to be Ramaphosa’s deputy

There is growing criticism of presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu following her refusal to be Cyril Ramaphosa’s deputy as the largest ANC branch in Ekurhuleni has reportedly dropped Sisulu and endorsed Naledi Pandor to be Ramaphosa’s running mate.

Chairperson of the 600-member Enoch Sontonga branch in Ivory Park Tlou Chokoe told the Sunday Times that it’s members had lost patience with Sisulu following unsuccessful efforts to get her to be Ramaphosa’s deputy.

The members were reportedly turned off by Sisulu’s insistence on running her own campaign to take the top job, also calling for Ramaphosa to be her deputy instead.

Her public fight with secretary-general Gwede Mantashe reportedly sealed her fate.

“We have always agreed with other branches that let’s go with the name of comrade Lindiwe Sisulu. We appreciated her energy, her ready-to-work attitude and we believe that she would be the right woman to occupy that position but while we were lobbying other branches, then we hear that comrade Lindiwe is lobbying Ramaphosa to be her deputy,” Chokoe was quoted as saying by the publication.

ANC insiders say she might regret her decision as Gauteng branches were putting pressure on Sisulu to change her mind and go for the second spot.

The branches said they reserved the presidency for Ramaphosa, not her. This message was loud and clear to the minister of human settlements when she campaigned in the Vaal Triangle last weekend.

The leadership at Albert Nkutha ANC branch in Sedibeng did not mince their words as they told Sisulu to stop her campaign and join Ramaphosa.

Branch chairperson Mthuzimele Sikukula told The Citizen they would continue to lobby Sisulu to accept the deputy position, as she did not reject their proposal and appeared amenable to it.

Sisulu had been politically courted by Ramaphosa for months as his deputy, but instead of accepting, she publicly called for him to become her deputy presidential candidate.

Her reason was that it was time for women to lead the ANC. An Eastern Cape ANC member close to the Ramaphosa campaign said: “It is a missed opportunity. I don’t know why she insists on running for the presidency when she knows she can’t win it alone. Which branch has nominated her? Nothing. The women’s league in the Eastern Cape who raised her name are a drop in the ocean.”

When the CR-17 campaign team failed to win Sisulu over, they looked for an alternative, because Ramaphosa insisted on a woman to be his deputy in line with the ANC’s policy of gender balance.

However, Sisulu told the Sunday Times this week that she would be willing to accept any position at the December conference.

“If that is the will of the branches, then who am I to say no, but at the moment I am running my own campaign,” she was quoted as saying.

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