By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe has been elected president of 13th National Conference of the ANCWL having received 1727 votes while her contender ANC MP Thembeka Mchunu garnered 1038 votes.
Tolashe replaces former ANCWL President Bathabile Dlamini who lost the position when the League was disbanded and received only a mere 170 votes .
Dlamini’s efforts to cling to power within the league were thwarted when negotiations with the Mchunu faction fell through. It’s understood that those in her camp attempted to broker a deal with the Mchunu camp for an additional position to be added to the officials of chairperson to allow Dlamini to form part of the top leadership.
Both Mchunu and Tolashe are in the Cyril Ramaphosa faction which fought for his re-election at the ANC Nasrec conference last year.
Tolashe right-hand woman will be Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe who received 1661 votes to claim the position of the ANCWL’s deputy President while her contenders Bernice Swarts walked away with 1990 votes and Lucas Sylvia with 62 votes.
The position of secretary-general went to Nokuthula Ncaba who received 1661 votes while her contenders Lydia Moroane-Zitha received 1081 and Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe 229 votes.
The deputy secretary-general went to former disgraced Communications Minister Dina Pule who in a surprise twist emerged victorious after she was nominated from the floor.
She trumped her opponents and received 1713 votes while her other contenders Makoma Makhurupetje garnered 1035 votes and Winnie Ngwenya 181 votes.
Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae received the biggest chunk of the votes, garnering over 2,000 for treasurer-general.
The election process hit a snag when accusations of ghost delegates were levelled during the credentials. Delegates were then forced to undergo security checks to ensure legitimacy. Each delegate was made to produce their tags and ID’s before entering the plenary hall.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to close the gathering.
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Video Courtesy of MYANC.