Lindiwe Sisulu says Julius Malema and others would not have formed their own party if the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was President of the African National Congress (ANC).
Sisulu, an ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) member, made the comments at a memorial lecture for Madikizela-Mandela in Ngqamakhwe, Eastern Cape, on Thursday.
Imagine further, if she was the president of the ANC, would there have been the creation of the EFF?
Not that I begrudge them the right to exist, but I am certain that with Mam’ Winnie at the helm of the leadership of the ANC, they would not have created their own organisation.
Lindiwe Sisulu
She said EFF’s policies are a “radical expression” of ANC’s policies.
She further suggested that ANC would not have lost three metros at 2016’s local government elections if the EFF was not formed.
‘Patriarchal tendencies’
Sisulu recalled how Madikizela-Mandela felt compelled to withdraw her candidature for ANC deputy president at the party’s 1997 elective conference.
Had she contested and won, she would have likely succeeded former President Thabo Mbeki.
Instead, Jacob Zuma was elected deputy president and later became ANC and state President.
Sisulu said with Madikizela-Mandela as president, “patriarchal tendencies” in the ANC and society would have been “attended to.”
“She would not have allowed us to be where we are right now,” she said.
Sisulu further hailed Madikizela-Mandela as a feminist.
Tributes for Winnie Mandela
The revered anti-apartheid struggle stalwart passed away in April 2018.
South Africa marked what would have been her 83rd birthday on Thursday, 26 September.
In a tweet, President Cyril Ramaphosa described her as a “freedom fighter and revolutionary.”
“She was fierce and unwavering in her fight against injustice, dedicated to the total emancipation of her people,” Ramaphosa added.
EFF also tweeted, “Revolutionary Happy Birthday to a liberator, a freedom fighter, and mother of the nation, Mama Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.”