ANCWL: Last minute horse-trading could see Mchunu and Dlamini camp merger

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Horse trading and negotiations from lobbyists in Bathabile Dlamini’s and Thembeka Mchunu’s camps are said to be continuing on day two of the ANC Women’s League conference.

The Mail & Guardian understands that Mchunu’s faction is trying to negotiate for the two camps to merge and form a united bloc against Sisisi Tolashe who is also vying for the presidency.

Dlamini’s camp suffered a blow last week when regions in her home province of KwaZulu-Natal ditched her campaign opting to support Mchunu.

Mchunu, who is a latecomer in the contest, visited President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings earlier this month together with other ANCWL leaders – including its task team convenor and ANC official Maropeni Ramokgopa, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, KwaZulu-Natal official Nomagugu Simelani-Zulu – in hopes of receiving his support.

Both Mchunu and Tolashe are in the Ramaphosa faction which fought for his re-election at the ANC Nasrec conference last year.

Tolashe is understood to have been the only one of the three ANCWL leaders contesting for the presidency to have received a nomination from branches meeting the threshold.

The other two ANCWL leaders will have to get nominations from the floor and reach the 25% threshold for their names to appear in the ballot.

An insider in the Tolashe camp said that while they are confident that she would be elected as league president, they were concerned that the talks between the two camps will hurt other contenders in their slate.

Tolashe received resounding support from delegates on the first day of the conference.

Tolashe who is the only one of the three contenders hailing from the Eastern Cape is believed to be also part of the Chris Hani Cabal, a clique of powerful ANC leaders in the province who were instrumental in fending off detractors of Ramaphosa.

Last year Mchunu, who is married to Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, suffered a humiliating loss when she failed to be elected chairperson of the Musa Dladla region.

The league was disbanded more than a year ago after it was unable to convene a conference, which was exacerbated by the conviction of its then-president, Bathabile Dlamini.

Dlamini was found guilty of perjury in March 2022 for lying under oath during an inquiry about her role in the 2018 South African Social Security Agency grant payments debacle. She was the minister of social development at the time.

Despite her conviction, Dlamini escaped the step-aside resolution through a technicality and was elected to the ANC’s national executive committee.