ANCWL: SUCCESSION BEING MADE INTO AN ISSUE

Oh dear, talk about avoiding the issue at hand!

ANCWL: succession being made into an issue

February 07 2007 at 01:13PM

By Wendy Jasson da Costa

ANC Women's League (ANCWL) President Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Tuesday accused the media of "running around like headless chickens" as it reported on the succession battle in the ANC. Speaking after the ANCWL's three-day national executive committee lekgotla, Mapisa-Nqakula became uptight when she was asked if she wanted the next president of the ANC to be a woman. Among those punted in the media as a possible successor to President Thabo Mbeki as a future president include Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Mapisa-Nqakula said it was up to the branches of the ANC to make that decision and that all members of the party had the right to make themselves available to stand as the leader.

"It is not an issue for us … for now it's an issue in the media," she said. Mapisa-Nqakula said there was no anxiety in the party over the matter because a leader would emerge. "There will be a leader at the end of the year and there will be no crisis. There may be no reason to contest about the leaders of the ANC because we tend to agree on these matters," she said. She said the problem was with the media who kept on throwing names at the party and who kept on wanting to "give" leaders to the ANC. "Don't push us to give you names … you are really stampeding us. It could be that people have already decided who we want," Mapisa-Nqakula said. She said people enjoyed controversy, but they were not going to get it in the ANC.

Mapisa-Nqakula said the ANCWL would this year continue with its mass campaign to mobilise women to be at the forefront of the struggle against women and child abuse, human trafficking and the struggle for peace, stability and safer neighbourhoods. However, another area of concern was the growing trend of men who were murdered by their female partners. Consequently, it would establish relations with forums dealing with men's issues, she said. Mapisa-Nqakula said there were also "growing allegations" of the abuse of men and although they were concerned about the violence against women and children, equally worrying was the fact that "quite a number of women" had been charged with femicide. "But equally you have women who have murdered men for economic reasons," said Mapisa-Nqakula. The details of its action plan would be available at its national general council to be held in March.