Most leaders seem to love the limelight. Some, when they have it, do not even want to share it.
But cabinet minister and ANC NEC member Lindiwe Sisulu is an intensely private individual who seems to avoid the spotlight.
Very little is known about her as a person. Very few will dispute that she is beautiful, glamorous and fashionable. Better, she is highly educated, qualified, articulate and insightful.
Unlike her peers, the limelight seems to love her more than she is interested in it.
She is the kind of person who intuitively knows your character, and that good personal qualities, will one day,bring you into the limelight – but the limelight is not for the individual to bask in its glory for their own sake.
You have to use the limelight, whatever it is, to bring light and enlightenment to the people.
Sisulu seems to understand that the limelight, if you desire it for its sake, can be as dangerous as light to a moth or headlights to a rabbit.
So, in an unobtrusive way, over the last few months she has emerged in the spotlight in quite a big way but has used the attention shone upon her to highlight the plight of the people and reconnect with them.
A large part of her presidential campaign, if it is now under way, has been humble, self-effacing and reticent.
No doubt a woman of her calibre and integrity knows that leadership is synonymous with visibility and prominence. But she has challenged this notion by holding back, showing a reluctance for blatant ambition and power.
Sisulu, whose parents were both iconic leaders in the ANC, has learnt from her mother, Albertina, and father, Walter, that to be a leader you do not need to be in the front or bask in the limelight.
For example the international community, African continent and South African society acknowledge and recognise the first president of a democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, as a global statesman and icon.
But few people know that Mandela was conscientised and recruited into politics and the ANC by Walter Sisulu.
The latter was a humble and self-effacing leader. He never basked in the limelight.
This also holds true for her mother, Albertina, who worked as a nurse in the poorest of communities all her life in Soweto.
Of course, the world recognised Mandela’s wife, Winnie Madikizela and dubbed her the “Mother of the Nation”.
But those who know what others don’t, will confess and acknowledge Ma Sisulu, as Albertina was fondly called, as the true and rightful Mother of the Nation.
She, like her husband, dedicated her life to improving the quality of life of the poorest of the people. She did it out of selflessness and for the sake of serving the people, with no desire for self-aggrandisement.
The status and good pay of a private clinic or hospital was not her way of life. She was all about identifying the needs of the people and putting them first above her personal interests.
With neither parent still alive, Lindiwe Sisulu’s disposition in leadership revives the spirit and memories of her parents.
At this time of identity crisis for the oldest liberation movement, the supporters and followers of the ANC, and society at large, are hungry for the spirit of the ANC that offered them hope.
For almost 20 years now, since 1994, the people of this country have hankered after the revival of the ANC of old or the restoration of its values.
For an increasing number of people, Sisulu is a welcome breath of fresh air in the jostling for power and position among ANC leaders.
She is viewed as a splendid symbol of a selfless leader who desires to be a true servant of the people, just as her parents were.
No one is sure of her constituency or backers but those who have observed her low-key campaign, confirm that her ambition is to empower people by taking the ANC back to them.
They point to the fact that since the beginning of the year, she has crisscrossed the country to visit, engage and consult with the people on the ground, starting in the Eastern Cape where she was born.
It was the people themselves who apparently nominated her to run for the presidency of the ANC– before she was ready to be nominated.
Few will recall that in both Mangaung and Polokwane influential people called her name for they genuinely believed her to be a symbolic leader who reflected and epitomised the original values of the ANC.
Those who are close to her, testify that unlike many other leaders in the ANC, Sisulu did not go out if her way to become a presidential candidate.
She has always understood a leader does not have to declare herself to be presidential but must be handpicked and identified by the people.
Surveys continue to show her rising into the second position in the race for the ANC presidency.
To many, the race is increasingly no race at all. But cynics say the show will not be over until the fat lady sings.
They say out of the three women identified – Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Baleka Mbete and Sisulu – the latter name is on the lips of the fat lady who must sing in December.
Nobody can tell what will happen. There are more than 100 days before the ANC elective conference takes place.
A lot can happen in that time.
But Sisulu is one of the few remaining leaders of the ANC who symbolises the virtues of the continent’s oldest liberation movement.
Her advantage is that she is seen as holding and expressing an ongoing concern for the people.
Some believe it will be best for the ANC and the country to be led by a woman of integrity who embodies the old ANC values and principles. But everybody must wait until the fat lady sings in December.
As her campaign slowly gathers momentum, it will not matter whether Sisulu wins the race or comes out at No2. It is thought that she cannot be below the two leading positions.
In fact, to many, she has already won the race. She is at the forefront of restoring hope in the ANC and reviving its past glory. As she does this, she does not bask in the limelight for her own sake.
Rather, she brings back the ANC of old, the one that holds the people’s hopes and aspirations.
Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer, cultural critic and public servant. He writes in his personal capacity
A splendid symbol of selflessness
But cabinet minister and ANC NEC member Lindiwe Sisulu is an intensely private individual who seems to avoid the spotlight.
Very little is known about her as a person. Very few will dispute that she is beautiful, glamorous and fashionable. Better, she is highly educated, qualified, articulate and insightful.
Unlike her peers, the limelight seems to love her more than she is interested in it.
She is the kind of person who intuitively knows your character, and that good personal qualities, will one day,bring you into the limelight – but the limelight is not for the individual to bask in its glory for their own sake.
You have to use the limelight, whatever it is, to bring light and enlightenment to the people.
Sisulu seems to understand that the limelight, if you desire it for its sake, can be as dangerous as light to a moth or headlights to a rabbit.
So, in an unobtrusive way, over the last few months she has emerged in the spotlight in quite a big way but has used the attention shone upon her to highlight the plight of the people and reconnect with them.
A large part of her presidential campaign, if it is now under way, has been humble, self-effacing and reticent.
No doubt a woman of her calibre and integrity knows that leadership is synonymous with visibility and prominence. But she has challenged this notion by holding back, showing a reluctance for blatant ambition and power.
Sisulu, whose parents were both iconic leaders in the ANC, has learnt from her mother, Albertina, and father, Walter, that to be a leader you do not need to be in the front or bask in the limelight.
For example the international community, African continent and South African society acknowledge and recognise the first president of a democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela, as a global statesman and icon.
But few people know that Mandela was conscientised and recruited into politics and the ANC by Walter Sisulu.
The latter was a humble and self-effacing leader. He never basked in the limelight.
This also holds true for her mother, Albertina, who worked as a nurse in the poorest of communities all her life in Soweto.
Of course, the world recognised Mandela’s wife, Winnie Madikizela and dubbed her the “Mother of the Nation”.
But those who know what others don’t, will confess and acknowledge Ma Sisulu, as Albertina was fondly called, as the true and rightful Mother of the Nation.
She, like her husband, dedicated her life to improving the quality of life of the poorest of the people. She did it out of selflessness and for the sake of serving the people, with no desire for self-aggrandisement.
The status and good pay of a private clinic or hospital was not her way of life. She was all about identifying the needs of the people and putting them first above her personal interests.
With neither parent still alive, Lindiwe Sisulu’s disposition in leadership revives the spirit and memories of her parents.
At this time of identity crisis for the oldest liberation movement, the supporters and followers of the ANC, and society at large, are hungry for the spirit of the ANC that offered them hope.
For almost 20 years now, since 1994, the people of this country have hankered after the revival of the ANC of old or the restoration of its values.
For an increasing number of people, Sisulu is a welcome breath of fresh air in the jostling for power and position among ANC leaders.
She is viewed as a splendid symbol of a selfless leader who desires to be a true servant of the people, just as her parents were.
No one is sure of her constituency or backers but those who have observed her low-key campaign, confirm that her ambition is to empower people by taking the ANC back to them.
They point to the fact that since the beginning of the year, she has crisscrossed the country to visit, engage and consult with the people on the ground, starting in the Eastern Cape where she was born.
It was the people themselves who apparently nominated her to run for the presidency of the ANC– before she was ready to be nominated.
Few will recall that in both Mangaung and Polokwane influential people called her name for they genuinely believed her to be a symbolic leader who reflected and epitomised the original values of the ANC.
Those who are close to her, testify that unlike many other leaders in the ANC, Sisulu did not go out if her way to become a presidential candidate.
She has always understood a leader does not have to declare herself to be presidential but must be handpicked and identified by the people.
Surveys continue to show her rising into the second position in the race for the ANC presidency.
To many, the race is increasingly no race at all. But cynics say the show will not be over until the fat lady sings.
They say out of the three women identified – Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Baleka Mbete and Sisulu – the latter name is on the lips of the fat lady who must sing in December.
Nobody can tell what will happen. There are more than 100 days before the ANC elective conference takes place.
A lot can happen in that time.
But Sisulu is one of the few remaining leaders of the ANC who symbolises the virtues of the continent’s oldest liberation movement.
Her advantage is that she is seen as holding and expressing an ongoing concern for the people.
Some believe it will be best for the ANC and the country to be led by a woman of integrity who embodies the old ANC values and principles. But everybody must wait until the fat lady sings in December.
As her campaign slowly gathers momentum, it will not matter whether Sisulu wins the race or comes out at No2. It is thought that she cannot be below the two leading positions.
In fact, to many, she has already won the race. She is at the forefront of restoring hope in the ANC and reviving its past glory. As she does this, she does not bask in the limelight for her own sake.
Rather, she brings back the ANC of old, the one that holds the people’s hopes and aspirations.
Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer, cultural critic and public servant. He writes in his personal capacity
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