POLITRICKING | 'The sooner Zuma accepts he's no longer part of the ANC, the better' - ANCWL SG Nqaba

The sooner Zuma accepts that he’s no longer attached to the African National Congress (ANC), the better, these are the sentiments of the ANC Women’s League’s Secretary General Nokuthula Nqaba as she reflects on the latest chapter of their mother body’s protracted battle with the party’s former president Jacob Zuma.

The ANC’s national disciplinary appeals committee recently upheld a decision by its disciplinary committee to expel Zuma from the organisation, effectively bringing to an end a 60-year relationship between the organisation and the politician.

Zuma has, however, rejected the expulsion, insisting his role in the formation of the Umkhonto WeSizwe party is a noble gesture, aimed at restoring brand ANC to its former glory, rescuing it from the likes of his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa. For the former president of the party, his vision in the lead-up to the elections was to bring the ANC under 50% and then eventually take back those votes once “order has been restored.”

“There is no reason for us to be sympathetic with him, he contributed to the 40%, we respect that, we’ve accepted the results and soldiered on, he must continue as the MK Party, stealing what we actually own, we are fine, we will soldier on,” says Nqaba.

Nqaba is this week’s guest on EWN’s Politricking with Tshidi Madia.

During the sit-down, the woman who drives the ANCWL’s engine on a day-to-day basis discusses the Government of National Unity (GNU), the contentious BELA Act, the future of the former liberation movement, succession as well preparations currently underway for a march to the Union buildings over the country’s alarming rates of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

“We are saying all South Africans, either way, are affected by GBV,” she says.

Nqaba says an invite to the demonstration has been sent to different political parties and sectors of society in the hope of a repeat of the 1956 women’s Anti-pass March, whose demands are engraved on the very stairs of the Union Buildings they will be marching to on Friday.

“GBV knows no boundaries, no political formation, no race, no colour, [neither] your pocket, in terms of how deep it is, it affects all of us,” says Nqaba.

The league secretary, while lobbying for her upcoming event has strong views on the current resistance to some aspects of the BELA Act, which is aimed at improving the quality of education but hasn’t been fully applied due to concerns raised by the likes of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and minority lobby group Afriforum over the language and schools admission policies.

"When public participation was taking place, all of us in South Africa, we were allowed, irrespective of our political formation, irrespective of our interest and ideology, but unfortunately those who fell short must accept the democratic centralism and the majority of the voices that needed to be appreciated and accepted."

“They were opportunistic,” she says.

“Having people marching with them raising high the old flag, has an element of provoking South Africans, more so us who understand our history,” she adds. 

Nqaba also shared the women in the ANC’s strong stance on the issue of succession. Women in the former liberation movement have been harshly criticised for using their once powerful bloc to assist in furthering the ambitions of their male counterparts.

The closest the ANC, in recent times, has been to electing a woman into power was in 2017, when Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma faced off with Cyril Ramaphosa at the Nasrec conference.

“We are resolved, we are ready, let's start seeing it by being approached,” she says.
Nqaba says the league is refusing to take instruction from anyone on who to support but is keen to lobby and be lobbied on what the ANC leadership should be when it goes to an elective conference in 2027.

“We must empower and liberate them[women] from slavery and [being] wheelbarrows of voting and clapping hands for their male counterparts, while undermining their own strengths and capabilities,” says Nqaba.

She says while the party has asked members to deal with succession post-2026, the women cannot afford to not conscientise their members to the realm of possibilities, more so the value in using their bloc successfully.

“We must make women understand their plight.”