The race towards the ANC’s national elective conference in December is set to steadily progress from Monday when branches begin nominating their preferred candidates to lead the party for the next five years.
The party last week established the rules for leadership contestation and received a report on audited membership numbers, paving the way for branches to begin the nomination process until the October deadline.
Branches will be permitted to send voting delegates to the ANC’s internal leadership contest based on their respective membership numbers. A branch with 100 members is permitted to send one voting delegate while a branch with more than 255 members will be allowed to send two voting delegates.
KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng, which have a combined membership of more than 400,000, will send the largest number of delegates to the conference. Some 5,525 delegates are expected to attend it.
Three of these four provinces — KwaZulu-Natal excluded — are expected to support Cyril Ramaphosa's bid for re-election as party president as their leadership has already endorsed his candidacy.
Dlamini-Zuma
Ramaphosa will be challenged for the party’s top position by co-operative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Dlamini-Zuma has raised her hand as a presidential candidate. She is yet to receive endorsement from her province, KwaZulu-Natal, which says it has not been informed nor approached regarding her campaign.
ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele told Business Day that this development is news to them. “While we have not been informed or approached, we are of the opinion that anyone that meets the criteria to contest any position for the party is entitled to put their hand up.
“As a region we have opted for a process of independent and transparent selection by our branches ... The provincial office will ask for the national body to procure the services of an independent elections agency to then oversee the election process of the candidates. This will be like an election of office-bearers. Once finalised, the province will have no choice but to support the outcome of the name/s for the presidential candidate and other positions if such is the case,” Mndebele said.
Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa faced off in 2017 when the president won with 51.90% of the vote.
A candidate requires 25% support from either branch nominations or the conference floor to make it to the ballot paper.
The race for the number two position is expected to be hotly contested between ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile, human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, Eastern Cape premier and ANC chairperson Oscar Mabuyane, and justice and correctional services minister Ronald Lamola.
Mashatile has received endorsements from the ANC leadership in Limpopo, while Lamola and Mabuyane have received endorsements from the Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape leadership respectively. Kubayi has received endorsement from her branch in Soweto and is expected to lobby the ANC Women’s League for support.
Mashatile’s tenure as acting secretary-general, which is at the heart of the party’s operations, as well as being the party’s finance chief, was fiercely debated at last week’s special national executive committee meeting as he stood accused of neglecting his duties and violating the party’s constitution.
The bone of contention is that Mashatile will present two reports — the organisational and financial reports — at the party’s conference in December. His opponents also claim he is using the three positions he holds to campaign for the more senior position of deputy president, now held by David Mabuza.
The bid to oust him from the secretary-general’s office was, however, foiled when the party’s top officials decided that the office’s co-ordinator, Gwen Ramokgopa, would attend meetings of the party’s top officials, thus giving her greater responsibility.
Ramokgopa, who is largely viewed by Ramaphosa’s political rivals in the ANC as a key ally of the president, was brought in to fill the void left by suspended secretary-general Ace Magashule and his deputy, Jessie Duarte, who has since died.
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