The African National Congress in KwaZulu Natal has come out to defend their provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma. This comes after Duma, who is also Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC grabbed and raised the trophy with rugby player Eben Etzebeth after it was announced that the premier should do so during the Springbok's trophy tour in KZN.

Duma was attacked by the ANC Women's League who accused him of undermining Premier Nomusa Dube Ncube. In a statement, the ANCWL deputy-general secretary Dina Pule said that they were deeply concerned by the ongoing and regrettable actions by Duma whom they say, has repeatedly undermined the authority and leadership of Premier Dube-Ncube. "These regrettable actions not only continue to undermine the authority of the premier of the province but also betray the principles of non-sexism and gender equality that are fundamental to the ANC's ideology," she said. ANC KZN addressed the ANCWL saying they are attempting to isolate Duma and weaken the ANC-led government. The ANC KZN said the ANCWL attacked Duma without the facts. "For the record, we have correspondence from Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube indicating that it had been agreed to allow Duma to lift the trophy. This was a collective decision and at no stage did Duma impose himself," Provincial Secretary General Bheki Mtolo said. Mtolo further shared a correspondence from Dube-Ncube quoted: "Nobhala and officials, please let's not allow these detractors to play cheap politics at dividing the ANC and the public. We actually laughed with Comrade Mthombeni (Sboniso Duma) yesterday about the fact that he is the one that will match Elizabeth because of his height,"

Mtolo said that the ANC believes that it is extremely sad that the ANCWL has decided to be the loudhailers of the chorus peddled by forces opposed to the ANC. "Under normal circumstances, we would have expected the ANCWL to engage the ANC provincial leadership using internal processes instead of this reckless posture that is divisive and factional at its best. The less said about the author of the statement ANCWL Deputy Secretary Cde Dina Pule the better," said Mtolo, who further said, "We call upon the ANCWL to do an honest introspection. They must assess the performance of their current leaders serving at the national level. The question is when given a huge responsibility to manage public funds, have they done so in the best interest of the women of our country? Can they safely state that every cent was spent to benefit the ordinary poor women of our country? If they find that at some point in history, one or more of their leaders failed this responsibility, they must ask themselves if such leaders qualify to lead and represent women of our country in any of the ANCWL structures," Mtolo added.

DA Womens Network KZN leader, Remona McKenzie, condemned Duma's action too. "The DA condemns the misogynistic and sexist conduct by ANC provincial chairperson and Edtea MEC Duma in a public display aimed at undermining Premier Dube-Ncube during the recent Springboks trophy tour in Durban. During an incident that's now gone viral, Duma is seen deliberately side-lining Dube-Ncube to unapologetically hijack and hoard the spotlight during a segment of the trophy lift - reserved strictly for the Premier - as witnessed by millions around the country," McKenzie said. She added that they are concerned that MEC Duma's actions may point to an ANC culture around the treatment of women which could have an undesirable effect on young men in particular, who need good male role models. "The ANC needs to rein in MEC Duma, it's the right thing to do," she said.