46% of ANC candidates for upcoming elections are women: Jessie Duarte
Party working hard to diversify its leadership to include women, people with disabilities, youth and members of the LGBTQIA+ community
Image: Freddy Mavunda
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said on Wednesday the party is proud of the 46% of women who were selected as ward and PR candidates.
This after the ANC recently concluded the candidate registration process for the upcoming elections.
She said the party is working hard to diversify its leadership to include women, people with disabilities, youth and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Duarte was briefing the media on the ruling party’s readiness for the local government elections set to take place on November 1.
“We are proud of the fact that women gained the confidence of their communities to be selected as ward candidates. It is encouraging that women are being affirmed in this manner, but there’s a lot of work to be done. Non-sexism in our view is complete parity.
“There is an interesting dynamic on the ground. People still are electing men to be ward councillors. We had a great deal of work to do,” said Duarte.
Duarte said the party was encouraged by young people, most of whom are graduates, who are entering politics and putting up their names for leadership positions.
“We have a candidate as young as 20 contesting the Buffalo City area and one in Johannesburg. We insisted the list must have a component of young people. About 25% of our list is composed of young South Africans so we can build for the future,” she said.