SOUTH AFRICA: ANC MAY NOMINATE WINNIE MANDELA AS DEPUTY PRESIDENT
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2015
- (17 Dec 1997) English/Nat
At this week's African National Congress, delegates will elect a new South African president and deputy leader.
Thabo Mbeki is likely to be the sole candidate to take over the presidency and Jacob Zuma is the A-N-C leaders' favourite for deputy.
However, there is a slight chance that grass roots delegates will nominate President Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as deputy.
Madikizela-Mandela hasn't been officially nominated, but if enough delegates vote for her on Wednesday she could compete with Zuma for the deputy presidency.
Despite claims of abuse hanging over her head, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela remains extremely popular with grass root members of the African National Congress.
Her supporters see her as a champion of the poor - someone who has been outspoken of the government's failure to keep election promises on housing and jobs.
Madikizela-Mandela may have had her nomination to the Deputy Presidency of the party all but thwarted, but she's not written off yet.
It is still possible that she could be elected from the floor on Wednesday.
Under the current rules, any delegate at the conference can nominate a candidate for the top six party posts. The nomination requires approval from 10 percent of the delegates, reflected by a show of hands.
However, the party has recently indicated that it may change its rules to make it harder for people to be nominated from the floor.
The proposed amendment would require 25 per cent of delegates to approve the nomination.
Although the party denies that this has been done with Madikizela-Mandela in mind.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"There isn't a problem about Winnie. Don't interpret what the ANC does out of this thing, which doesn't exist, of some great fright about Winnie in the ANC, there isn't.\"
SUPERCAPTION: Thabo Mbeki, deputy president of South Africa
Despite her status as an anti-apartheid heroine, Madikizela-Mandela has been increasingly isolated from the mainstream A-N-C leadership.
This is mainly due to her erratic behaviour and accusations she ordered murders and torture by her township gang in the late 1980s.
A nine-day hearing by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the accusations ended earlier this month with Madikizela-Mandela denying any responsibility and calling her accusers liars and lunatics.
Her failure to get nominated as a candidate for the deputy presidency is believed to have been orchestrated by the mainstream party leadership.
Now the only way she can be elected to run against the only other nominee Jacob Zuma, is by nomination from the floor.
Political analysts say someone who has blatantly criticised the party cannot be part of it.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"It is not what she has done, it is not what she hasn't done, it is just that she is seen as disloyal to the organisation. She has criticised the organisation in public and she has to go.\"
SUPERCAPTION: Lizeka Mda, political reporter and columnist
But the deputy editor of the Mercury newspaper Kaizer Nyatsumba says the A-N-C cannot afford not to take Madikizela-Mandela seriously due to her strong grass-root support.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPERCAPTION: Kaizer Nyatsumba, deputy editor of Mercury newspaper
There are many who say Madikizela-Mandela's election would be disastrous for South Africa.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
\"If she is elected, I think to put it frankly, it would be catastrophic for South Africa.\"
SUPERCAPTION: Professor Sampie Terreblanch, political analyst at University of Stellenbosch
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We miss and love you mama.
RIP Qhawekazi
SOUTH AFRICANS MUST UNITE AND SAVE SOUTH AFRICA NOW. Thank you
How things change . . . There's still hope for the country. If force must be used so be it. 🔥🔥🔥
The mother of SA nation
When was this ?
Who is the woman that said “she has to go”?
Tutu was carrying out clear instructions of the west, that is to destroy someone who contributed much more than he could ever imagine.
Desmond Tutu the worst puppet
I hate him after what he did to mama Mandela he's such a hypocrite , they've tried to bring down mama but they couldn't she was a very strong woman unlike them as men