ANC battle: Who will win top post?
Ruling party faces an uphill struggle to win over public
WHOEVER is announced as the new president of the ANC today, one thing is for sure, the incumbent and their new leadership team will have a herculean task ahead of them.
Much has been written about the problems the venerable organisation faces.
Almost every South African has an opinion about the ANC as the party has been the government of this country for almost an entire generation, particularly the so-called born frees.
The truth is much has gone wrong over the last couple of years; the economy has tanked, joblessness is at critical levels, state-owned enterprises have become bottomless holes of sorely-needed public funds and the outgoing ANC president has become synonymous with state capture.
In the process the ANC has taken immense strain even more so as the race to replace Jacob Zuma became a highstakes affair.
There was no shortage of drama at the party’s leadership election conference at the weekend, which started with controversy over accreditation of nearly 6 000 delegates.
The ANC’s discussion of the voting process for a new National Executive Committee and the Top 6 reached a critical stage yesterday with delegates singing and chanting for either Cyril Ramaphosa or Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Yesterday, the ANC decided to exclude numerous delegates from voting. The decision was ostensibly to abide by no less than two damning court rulings after the legitimacy of some provincial conferences were successfully challenged in court.
The provincial executive committees in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal were barred from voting following court judgments that found them unlawful.
Delegates at the national conference yesterday finalised the nomination of candidates to fill the ANC’s Top 6 positions.
For president, they nominated current Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and former AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Deputy president nominees were Mpumalanga ANC chairperson and Premier David Mabuza, current ANC treasurer Zweli Mkhize and Human Settlements Minster Lindiwe Sisulu.
But Mkhize withdrew his candidature during proceedings.
In the post of secretary-general, KZN ANC chairperson Senzo Mchunu and Free State ANC chairperson Ace Magashule were nominated and accepted. For
deputy secretary-general, incumbent Jessie Duarte and Cosatu deputy president Zingiswa Losi were nominated.
Paul Mashatile, Nomvula Mokonyane and Maite Nkoana Mashabane were nominated for the position of ANC treasurer-general: Mokonyane declined.
Nominees for national chairperson were: Gwede Mantashe and Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who have both accepted.
Day two of the conference taking place in Nasrec near Soweto, had been delayed by several hours as delegates spent time finalising the credentials of delegates in attendance.
Once those were finalised the number of delegates eligible to vote stood at around 4 700.
Earlier in the day, Duarte said they hoped delegates would be able to start voting at night with the new leadership being announced in the morning. But this also seems unlikely as a number of items were still on the agenda that still needed to be tackled before voting.
Meanwhile, the relationship between the ANC and its alliance partners the SACP and Cosatu seemed destined for more gloomy days. Sihle Zikalala, the ANC chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal, defended his move to block the alliance partners from delivering messages of support on the first day of the ANC NEC.
This after outgoing ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete called on them to deliver their messages of support following Jacob Zuma’s delivery of his last political address as party president.
Zikalala accused Mbete of not following the conference programme by allowing alliance leaders to speak in the open session just after Zuma.
It is reported Zuma’s supporters were concerned that the SACP and Cosatu were going to attack him and influence how delegates vote. He had endorsed Dlamini Zuma to succeed him. Cosatu and SACP had called on Zuma to resign in the runup to the ANC’s conference.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANC AND ITS ALLIANCE PARTNERS SEEMED DESTINED FOR MORE GLOOMY DAYS
ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) president, Bathabile Dlamini, remained resolute yesterday that the league’s preferred candidate would win the party’s leadership despite the loss of stronghold votes.
The ANCWL is supporting national executive committee member (NEC) and MP Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to succeed President Jacob Zuma as the party elects its new leadership at its 54th national conference.
Dlamini Zuma’s campaign and her presidential aspirations were dealt a huge blow when the ANC NEC on Saturday resolved that delegates from nullified structures in KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and the Free State – structures seen as Dlamini Zuma’s strongholds – could not participate in the voting process.
The ANC’s presidential position was set to be contested by seven candidates, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, NEC members Jeff Radebe, Zweli Mkhize, Lindiwe Sisulu, Mathews Phosa, and Baleka Mbete, who has since thrown her weight behind Ramaphosa.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Dlamini said the ANCWL was proud to have campaigned for the inclusion of women in the party’s top structure.
“For the first time we had three women nominated for the position of the president. Secondly, South Africa is a patriarchal country, starting from the nucleus of the society which is the family. Our understanding and our development on the issues of gender and power relations differ,” she said. – African News Agency/ANA