Winnie Madikizela-Mandela should’ve led ANC – Lindiwe Sisulu

Human settlements minister Lindiwe Sisulu said if Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had become president of the ANC after former president Thabo Mbeki, patriarchy in the ANC and in society would have been dealt with.

And, she said, the EFF would not exist today.

Sisulu was addressing an event in honour of MadikizelaMandela in Ngqamakhwe, in the Eastern Cape, on Thursday.

“Let us reimagine her impact on SA politics if, after Mbeki, she had become the president – and perhaps [Jacob] Zuma after her.

“I am certain that the patriarchal tendencies in society and in the organisation would have been attended to.

“She would not have allowed us to be where we are right now,” Sisulu said.

The ANC stalwart, who died in 2018, would have turned 83 on September 26.

Sisulu said EFF leader Julius Malema would have not formed his own party had Madikizela-Mandela been president of the ANC.

She reflected on the ANC’s 1997 Mafikeng conference where Madikizela-Mandela was to contest Zuma for deputy presidency of the ANC.

“When the IEC put the question to Winnie there was a tense moment – should she accept the nomination and, if so, what would she do if she lost against comrade Zuma?

“[It was] a painful moment for all who were there and she finally declined.

“Imagine if she had agreed and won – that would’ve been the first elected female deputy president of the ANC,” she said.

Sisulu evoked MadikizelaMandela’s legacy as a feminist firmly against patriarchy, saying the scourge of femicide and abuse against women would have been dealt with.

“The one thing I am certain of is that the main pillar of her presidency would have dealt with these power relations that have so distorted society.”

Her presidency would have aimed to protect women, she said.

“I am putting this across to you to indicate that we would have gained so much more had Mam’ Winnie been given the opportunity and it would have taken nothing from anybody.

“Imagine how much more caring we’d be as a society.”

Reflecting on the expulsion of Malema from the ANC and his subsequent formation of the EFF, Sisulu said it would have not happened under MadikizelaMandela. “Not that I begrudge them the right to exist, but I am certain that with Mam’ Winnie at the helm of the leadership of the ANC, they would not have created their own organisation.”

Sisulu said the EFF policies were “just a radical expression of our own policies”, and yet they had helped in the ANC’s loss of three key metros.