Struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's name is number one on the list of names being considered for the renaming of Cape Town International Airport, ANC national executive committee member Nocawe Mafu said during a party dialogue at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg on Thursday. 

Mafu was speaking to a gathering of women discussing gender policy in South Africa.

She was responding to a question posed by radio host Criselda Kananda-Dudumashe.

"Already Winnie's name is sitting [with] the council and, actually, it is sitting on top of that list," she said in reference to the South African Geographical Names Council.

She added that fellow struggle veteran Albertina Sisulu's name was also being considered. This after the EFF's failed attempt to have National Assembly pass a resolution allowing for Cape Town International Airport to be renamed after Madikizela-Mandela.

The EFF's efforts were thwarted as 224 MPs voted in favour of an amendment of a resolution to support the process already underway under the leadership of Airports Company South Africa. The ANC was supported by opposition parties including the DA. 

"The ANC-led government put together a council on geographic names and anything that has got to do with names – whether they are naming a town or street, it has got to go to that council.

"What the EFF was doing was trying to use Mam' Winnie's name to campaign and we couldn't get into a trap of actually assisting the EFF to campaign on Winnie's name. We amended the motion, we did not reject it," she said.

In a statement shortly after the EFF's loss in Parliament, the party's national spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, said the ANC and the DA must be reminded of South Africa's love of Madikizela-Mandela on voting day. 

"The EFF will never rest until Mama Winnie Mandela's name is given the honour it deserves.

"The EFF will carry her name in true and perfect highest regard. For as long as we live, Mama Winnie Mandela will never be forgotten."