\n\t\tMakhurupetje said women are often only made to deputise in top government positions.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sick and tired of being led by men. For 32 years now, the Limpopo ANC has been led by males. It is time that women make up the majority of the top five positions in the Limpopo ANC\u201d.<\/p>\n
These were the words of former member of the national ANC Women\u2019s League,\u00a0Makoma Grace Makhurupetje, on Friday.<\/p>\n
Makhurupetje\u2019s stance came as provincial secretary, Vhamusanda Reuben Madadzhe, announced that the ANC in Limpopo\u2019s 11th provincial elective conference would be held before winter of 2026.<\/p>\n
Madadzhe was speaking after the party\u2019s special provincial executive committee [PEC] meeting at Frans Mohlala (ANC Limpopo headquarters) in Polokwane this week. He said the conference will be held from 27 March to 2 March 2026 at a venue yet to be determined.<\/p>\n
Madadzhe said the PEC has established a provincial conference preparatory committee to coordinate and oversee preparations for the conference, in accordance with the ANC constitution. <\/p>\n
He said this would include circulating conference information, determining delegate selection procedures, and making logistical arrangements for the conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The announcement has sparked massive lobbying among ANC bigwigs in the province to secure the top five positions.<\/p>\n
ANC provincial spokesperson Mathole Jimmy Machaka said lobbying processes within the ANC in Limpopo began when the PEC adopted the roadmap to the provincial conference.<\/p>\n
The ANC Limpopo believes \u201cthere is no, and there cannot be, two centres of power in ANC contestation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe centre is one, and the centre is the ANC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ: Limpopo ANC\u2019s biggest region makes special plea ahead of conference<\/a><\/p>\n Women should lead<\/p>\n During her birthday jamboree, held at Mothomeng Village in Bolobedu, near the Modjadji Rain Queen\u2019s Palace, on the eve of Christmas, Makhurupetja, now the Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature, said the 2026 ANC Limpopo provincial elective conference is a year of women\u2019s emancipation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is our year. Male leaders have led the movement in Limpopo for the past 31 years. Their leadership trend ends here now and today. As we go to the local government elections, we need women councillors and female municipal mayors.\u201d<\/p>\n Makhurupetje, who grew from the ranks of school politics as a member of the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO) in 1986 at Khesethwane High School in Bolobedu (Boroka) outside Tzaneen and led the ANC in Limpopo as deputy provincial secretary under the leadership of then provincial chairperson Cassel Mathale, said women in South African politics were often only made to deputise in top government positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe currently have a female police provincial commissioner, female speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature, two deputy Speaker and many other female leaders in government. Why can\u2019t we then have a female leader in the ANC?\u201d she asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n Makhurupetje pulled no punches. She said women are ready and capable of leading the ANC.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want women to take their rightful places in ANC leadership positions because we are able and capable. We want a female ANC Youth League president, and a female president of the state and of the ANC. Not later, or five years later, but now,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n