Days before the ANC’s elective conference, former women’s league president Bathabile Dlamini has been disqualified from being nominated as part of the national executive committee (NEC).
In a letter leaked to the media, electoral committee chair Kgalema Motlanthe said a process conducted to vet nominees through the ruling party’s elections agency had found information which negatively affected Dlamini’s eligibility to stand for nomination as a candidate for all NEC positions.
The vetting information noted that Dlamini had been found guilty of a serious crime with a sentence of more than six months.
“To be specific, you are summarily disqualified as a candidate for all NEC positions including additional members during the 55th national conference,” Motlanthe wrote.
This could mean the end of Dlamini’s political career in the ANC. The staunch ally of former president Jacob Zuma was found guilty of perjury in March and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment or a R200 000 fine for lying under oath while testifying during an inquiry instituted by the constitutional court in 2018 into a social grant payments scandal involving the South African Social Security Agency.
Retired Judge Bernard Ngoepe presided over this inquiry. The case against Dlamini, who was social development minister at the time of the scandal, will continue in March.
Dlamini has faced a mountain of problems in recent months, including having her powerful position as ANC Women’s League president stripped away when the structure was dissolved in April after the ANC accepted a recommendation from Thandi Modise.
The NEC appointed Modise to head a panel to evaluate the status of the league. This came after the guilty verdict against Dlamini in the social grants debacle.
In April, Dlamini fought for the position of convener of a task team to run the women’s league. This was however rejected, with her opponents arguing that she would use the task team to ensure she emerged as the league’s president for another term.
Dlamini, whose influence in the ANC women’s league remains strong, has said she was willing to return for another term as its leader.
Lizeka Tandwa
Lizeka Tandwa is a political journalist with a keen interest in local government.
