Mbete says she’s been ‘approached’ about leading ANC‚ but would rather not talk about it

17 January 2017 - 10:43 By Neo Goba
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National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete said she did not have the 'state capture' report but later backtracked following ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu's intervention.
National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete said she did not have the 'state capture' report but later backtracked following ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu's intervention.
Image: Kevin Sutherland

ANC chairperson Baleke Mbete has played down claims that she has raised her hand to be the next female leader of the country.

This came after the Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Mbete has become the latest leader to throw her hat in the ring in the battle over who should succeed President Jacob Zuma as head of the party and state.

“The matter is not yet formally on the table. Let's have this discussion and then‚ at the point when [we are] formally to engage in the question of ourselves as individuals or other people as comrades‚ we can say‚ in general‚ we've always been around and always worked according to the wishes of the structures of the ANC‚" said Mbete.

She was speaking to Xolani Gwala on Talk Radio 702.

Mbete‚ who is also the speaker of the National Assembly‚ told the Sunday Times that she had been “approached by many” party structures to run for high office and‚ “after agonising for a long time” over it‚ decided to make herself available for the job.

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However‚ during the interview with Gwala‚ she reiterated that indeed she was approached‚ but said she'll allow the ANC to formally allow that debate to be opened and will abide by the party's instructions.

“I am saying‚ yes‚ people raised this matter (to be the next president) but it’s not yet time for me to pronounce on it. But indeed‚ in general‚ it is known that I've always obliged to the ANC because I'm a cadre of this ANC‚ but it's not a discussion I am willing to have a full-on engagement about in public because it is wrong‚" she added.

Her announcement‚ made to the Sunday Times during an interview at her Northcliff home last week‚ means that there are now three candidates who have declared a willingness to be elected ANC president when the party holds its national elective conference in December.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told PowerFM late last year that he was keen on the job‚ and outgoing AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's bid for the top job was boosted last week when the ANC Women's League named her as its preferred candidate a day before the party's 105th anniversary celebrations in Soweto.

The league's announcement has been seen as a blow to Mbete and other female presidential hopefuls.

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But Mbete told the Sunday Times that although she was “surprised” by the timing of the league's announcement‚ she did not believe that it prevented her from entering the race.

"No‚ not at all. I mean‚ all it does is it clarifies the views of the leadership of the ANCWL… that's all it does‚ it says they are also committing themselves to campaign and persuade other members of the ANC to agree with them on their position‚ that's all. It does not say nobody else should be nominated‚” Mbete told the Sunday Times.

Surprisingly‚ Zuma told an interviewer on an SABC radio station that the ANC is ready for a female president. His remarks came days after Dlamini-Zuma was named by the ANC Women's League as its choice to succeed him.

– TMG Digital

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