Bheki Cele event gets thumbs down

"We are more than ready for the president of the ANC to be a woman."

That's the word from Nonhle Mkhulisi‚ ANC regional chairman in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

She was speaking ahead of presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma‚ who was the chief guest at an ANC cadres’ forum gathering in Empangeni on Monday.

About 16km away in eSikhawini‚ Bheki Cele was expected to address another gathering at the same time.

But Mkhulisi told NDZ supporters that the regional wing of the party did not recognise the event. "I just want to clarify comrades that that event in eSikhawini is not an ANC event".

She added: "We cannot stop our event because of the tendencies of those leaders."

Mkhulisi went on to confirm her region's support for NDZ saying "we are more than ready for the 13th president to be female. We don't want to be left out when the party makes history".