We will support any female candidate for president - ANCWL

Johannesburg – The ANC Women's League (ANCWL) has not yet decided on who it will back for ANC president in 2017, ANCWL president Bathabile Dlamini said on Thursday.

Dlamini said the league would support African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and any other female candidates as ANC president in 2017.

Dlamini-Zuma is rumoured to be planning on contesting the position of ANC leader once President Jacob Zuma's term has ended.

"This is the decision of the conference of the ANCWL. It's no longer a decision of an individual. The ANC has called upon all of us to put aside the issues of the coming conference and focus on elections," she told journalists.

She said the ANCWL had several other candidates which would be eligible for the position.

"We have women that can stand as president of the country. We don't want to create confusion among ourselves and start deciding on names here," she said.

The ANCWL would come up with names of possible candidates an ad closed meeting between the ANCWL and the selected candidates would then be held before the final candidate was chosen, she said.

"We don't want to divide women. Our responsibility is to unite our country. Any candidate that has been selected by the branches we will support."

Dlamini said their most important responsibility was to mobilise ANC branches to vote for a woman in their branch general meetings.

"And, therefore, after that process, our responsibility will be to back any candidate that will have been selected by branches."

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.