ANC rejects parity in top six

2007-12-20 15:23

Polokwane - The African National Congress has decided not to enforce gender parity in its top six posts, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

NEC member Collins Chabane told journalists at Polokwane that delegates had agreed that its decision on a minimum 50% representation for women in elected structures of the party would not apply separately to the top posts, which included the party president and chair.

"There's no special reservation for the top six," he said.

The 50% principle would instead apply to the entire 86-member national executive committee.

As there were two women in the top six elected on Tuesday, this meant there would have to be a minimum 41 women among the remaining 80 members of the NEC.

Voting for the NEC took place on Wednesday and results are expected later on Thursday.

The 50% rule was agreed to by the conference before voting for the top six began on Tuesday, but there was no consensus at that stage on whether it should apply separately to the top six.

This was an issue because the Jacob Zuma camp's list of candidates for the top six included only two women - Baleka Mbete, who was returned as chair, and Thandi Modise, who is now deputy secretary general.

The Mbeki list included three women.

Up to now, the party has had a 30% requirement for women.

- SAPA