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The ANC Youth League in the Western Cape has thrown its weight behind Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s bid to take over from Jacob Zuma as party president.
The ANCYL’s support comes after a special meeting held on Sunday. They back Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza as her deputy‚ Free State premier Ace Magashule to be secretary-general‚ and ministers Nathi Mthethwa and Nomvula Mokonyane to be chairperson and treasurer-general, respectively.
Despite his protestation earlier in 2017‚ the ANCYL has included Fikile Mbalula as second deputy secretary-general, while they want Jessie Duarte to remain in her position as deputy secretary-general.
ANCYL Western Cape chairperson Muhammad Khalid Sayed said they did not feel the ANC’s top six — except for Zuma‚ who will be stepping down‚ and Duarte — were capable of taking the ANC forward.
"There is a good crop of leaders‚ even in the top six [but] we just don’t feel that for where we want to move now‚ the current top six as it is‚ [will] take us where we need to be‚" said Sayed.
He said the province nominated Mokonyane to be treasurer-general because she had worked in the Western Cape and so they had first-hand information of how she operated.
"The rationale behind Nomvula Mokonyane is that we feel she is somebody who has been able to inject lots of vibrancy into the organisational machinery of the ANC and as a result … that puts her in good standing to be a treasurer-general‚" said Sayed.
But some provincial executive committee members boycotted the meeting and claimed that as a result there was no quorum.
The ANCYL members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, support Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed Zuma. They branded the meeting "a Dlamini-Zuma lobby structure".
But Sayed hit back, saying "they were not in the meeting. I don’t know how they can say it [did not] quorate."
He challenged any disgruntled members to produce photos of the meeting as proof that the meeting did not make quorum, among other things.
"They must come forward and they must lodge their complaint and say it didn’t quorate; they must follow the official channels. We can’t be held to ransom by people who are not even in a meeting to say it didn’t quorate‚" he said.
The ANCYL said in a statement that as a "critical body of opinion" inside the ANC it had nominated the leaders they believed had the ability to play their part in a solid and united collective, which would bring "economic freedom in our lifetime".
"We believe that these cadres [have] the organisational and political acumen to make a meaningful contribution towards the rebuilding and revitalisation of our glorious movement‚" it was noted in the statement.
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