The African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) has shared reasons why they won’t be celebrating the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the new president of the African National Congress (ANC).
The league’s president, Bathabile Dlamini, while addressing the media said the organization “is not and cannot be proud of the outcome” because the ruling party has failed the women of South Africa.
Check Out:Â Cyril Ramaphosa Biography – Wife, Children and Family
Dlamini also expressed great disappointment with the sexist remarks about former African Union (AU) chairperson Dlamini-Zuma, claiming “she was insulted, trampled and reduced to President Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife”.
Aun unfazed Bathabile thanked Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for putting up a good fight despite the fact that she was the target of criticism and insults.
Emphasizing further on the male-dominated top six, the ANCWL president remarked that newly elected deputy secretary general of the ruling party, Jessie Duarte, wouldn’t have made it to the position had it being she competed against a man. Recall that Duarte defeated Zingiswa Losi to win the position of deputy secretary-general.
Having said these, Bathabile Dlamini called on the ruling party to dismantle the ugly head of patriarchy which has gotten the better part of the people.
“We fought a good fight. This was history in the making for the women in the ANC. For the first time, we had a female on the ballot paper as a presidential candidate. Our common goal should be fighting and defeating patriarchy.
“The ANC has got to take a decision about how women are going to be affirmed. The ANC has indeed regressed on the issue of women. We cannot be proud of this outcome [because] patriarchy has once again reared its ugly head.
Comrade Jessie was able to make it because she stood against another woman. If she had stood against a man‚ she would have been thrown under the bus,” the ANCWL president readout.
On December 18, 2017, South Africa’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, was elected the new leader of the country’s ruling party – the ANC. Of the over 4800 delegates who voted in the Congress, 2,440 voted for the 65-year-old businessman to edge out his closest rival, 68-year-old Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (an ex-wife of Nkandla-born president Jacob Zuma).
His victory at the hotly-sought race also brought to rest the fears of critics who saw her presidential bid as a potential damage to the ruling party, considering her closeness to her ex-husband whose administration is plagued with corruption scandals and legal battles.
Cyril’s win at the Congress (alleged to have been tainted by vote-buying and rigging) was engineered through a last-minute deal brokered by the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng on the night of December 17.
Under the deal, the Eastern Cape promised to support David Mabuza as the deputy president in return for their backing business mogul Ramaphosa for the top post.
The position of the deputy president was secured by David Mabuza who beat Lindiwe Sisulu by more than 300 votes, while Free State premier Ace Magashule pipped former KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu by just 24 votes for the secretary-general position.
Paul Mashatile defeated Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in the race for treasurer general of the party while former secretary-general Gwede Mantashe was elected the chairperson.
Who’s Cyril Ramaphosa? – A Brief Bio
He is the middle child of Samuel Ramaphosa, a retired policeman and Erdmuth Ramaphosa’s three children. Ramaphosa was born into a Christian family on November 17, 192, in Soweto, Johannesburg.
Born as Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, he had his primary school education at Tshilidzi Primary School and Sekano Ntoane High School. Upon the completion of his primary education, he proceeded to Mphaphuli High School in Sibasa, Limpopo, where he was elected head of the Student Christian Movement due to his involvement and commitment to Christian activities in the school. He graduated in 1971.
In 1972, he started school as a law student at the University of the North (Turfloop).
While at university, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa joined the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and the Black People’s Convention (BPC).
Read Also:Â Baleka Mbete Withdraws From Presidential Race, Announces Her Preferred Candidate
His passion for political activities at the university led to his detention in solitary confinement for eleven months in 1974 and in 1976 as a result of the Soweto unrest. The second time, he was held for six months at John Vorster Square under the Terrorism Act.
Quick Facts About Cyril Ramaphosa
- Cyril obtained his B. Proc. Degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1981.
- He later joined the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) as an advisor in the legal department.
- In 1982, he launched the National Union of Mineworkers.
- He ran in the 1997 ANC Presidential election but lost out to Thabo Mbeki.
- Ramaphosa is one of the richest men in South Africa. In 2015, he was named as the 12th richest man in South Africa with a net worth of $450 million (R5.2 billion) by Forbes.
- His annual salary is reportedly put at R3.6 million.
- He was appointed deputy president of South Africa in May 2014 and president of the country in February 2018.
- Cyril has tied the knot twice. His first wife was Nomazizi Mtshotshisa, the first African female chairperson of the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, Telkom. They had one daughter (Tulisa) together before divorcing in 2008, the same year Nomazizi lost her battle with a protracted illness.
- The business mogul welcomed four children (sons Andile and Tumelo and daughters Keneilwe (Kiki) and Mashudu) with Dr Tshepo Motsepe (his second wife and the sister of mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe).