Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has received the backing of the ANC Women’s League in KwaZulu-Natal for the Deputy Presidential position at the Mangaung elective conference. The Women’s League in the province held its provincial general council in Pietermaritzburg. It nominated President Jacob Zuma, Chairperson, Baleka Mbete and Secretary General Gwede Mantashe for re-election. KwaZulu-Natal Chairperson Zweli Mkhize and Jesse Duarte were nominated for Treasurer General and Deputy Secretary General positions, respectively. ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) provincial Chairperson, Celiwe Madlopha says the Provincial General Council was unanimous in nominating all the top six candidates. Madlopha says this is not elections at the moment it’s nominations. She says they will be engaging each other until Mangaung and confirmed that the deputy president position they have nominated Cyril Ramaphosa. “At the moment we feel that comrade Cyril Ramaphosa is the candidate because of his history in the organisation, we also believe he is appealing to the business, appealing to the youth, appealing in most sectors of our society and he has been loyal in the organisation,” said Madlopha. Meanwhile, five weeks to its Mangaung conference, the ANC’s been accused of faking growth in the Western Cape. Yesterday the party held a rally to welcome members it claims have defected from the Congress of the People (COPE), however, COPE has dismissed those claims as desperate and false. In a media alert the party said it would welcome 1000 people who had defected to COPE after fallout at the 2007 Polokwane conference. Less than a 50 turned up at the event and not all signed membership forms. COPE says the ANC’s claims of taking its members in big numbers are false.
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