MLAMBO-NGCUKA HINTS AT RUN FOR ANC PRESIDENCY: I HAVEN’T LEFT POLITICS

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka spoke with young women in Gauteng on Thursday at the ANC's Ruth First Offices to mark what would have been the struggle icon's 103rd birthday.

FILE: Former United Nations Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Picture: GCIS

Tshidi Madia 

Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - Former United Nations head of women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has not ruled out running for the presidency, saying she never left the political landscape.

Mlambo-Ngcuka spoke with young women in Gauteng on Thursday at the ANC's Ruth First Offices to mark what would have been the struggle icon's 103rd birthday.

She had largely been absent from political life since former President Thabo Mbeki's axing in 2008, making this her first time campaigning on behalf of the ANC since her return from her UN appointment.

Mlambo-Ngcuka told journalists many of the political parties needed to do better when it came to the selection of women as councillor candidates.

And when asked if there was any truth to claims that she might run for the ANC presidency in the party's upcoming elective conference, she said: “I will cross that bridge when I get to it. But I never really left the political sphere. We’ve always been around, continuing to make sure that our democracy continues to function.”