I should've reached out to Khoza: Sisulu

ANC NEC member and presidential hopeful Lindiwe Sisulu feels guilty that she didn't offer former ANC MP Makhosi Khoza the necessary support that she needed.

"I don’t know the circumstances under which she resigned but I am regretful that she resigned. I do know that she had a tough time and I'm personally feeling very guilty that I didn't get to her to discuss and offer her the necessary support and comfort that she needed.

“I've been meaning to do that but I have been so caught up with my own situation… we've just lost one very strong person who would be able to stand up to power [and] I wish she hadn't resigned‚" said Sisulu.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the Human Settlements Development Summit in Boksburg ‚ east of Johannesburg‚ on Thursday.

Khoza announced on Thursday that she was quitting the ANC after a breakdown in the relationship between her and the party leadership.

Sisulu‚ who broke party ranks and launched her manifesto at the historic Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown in July in her bid to succeed President Jacob Zuma‚ said she was saddened by Khoza's decision because she had courage and spoke truth to authority.

She said that during the struggle‚ they tried to quell being undermined by their male counterparts and Khoza had suffered the same fate in the party.

"We have a very patriarchal society and we as women were part of the struggle and our understanding is that we were only fighting racism and exploitation‚ [but] we were also fighting to ensure that we emancipate‚ free ourselves as women from those backward traditions that are underpinned by patriarchy‚" she said.

"We will soldier on and that is the reason why we have women standing to say we will go forward and go for the top post because we think that the final test of whether or not we are a truly free organisation‚ is when women take on the struggle against patriarchy‚" Sisulu added.

Sisulu said she would reach out to Khoza and preach to her the teachings of former ANC leader Oliver Reginald Tambo and South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani.

Khoza‚ who faced two counts of ill-discipline in July for statements she made in four Facebook posts on July 7. 20 (two posts) and 21 as well as remarks she made at the Conference for the Future of South Africa in Johannesburg‚ which was organised by Save SA‚ failed to appear before the disciplinary committee at the party's provincial offices in Durban on two consecutive occasions.

In a lengthy Facebook post‚ Khoza said she was unbothered about the outcome of the hearing. She has also in the past argued that the party's constitution provides that disciplinary proceedings may not be used as a means of stifling debate or denying members their basic democratic rights.