Ramaphosa names his top team
THE ANC succession battle yesterday moved up a gear after Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa took the extraordinary step of announcing a team he wants to lead the governing party.
The move saw Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu dropped as the potential deputy to Ramaphosa.
Speaking at a campaign rally in the Sekhukhune district in Limpopo, Ramaphosa said he wanted Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor as his deputy.
Ramaphosa also told the crowd of supporters he wanted former KwaZulu-Natal ANC chairperson and premier Senzo Mchunu to be the party’s secretary-general. “He has lined up current ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe as the party’s national chairperson and Gauteng chairman Paul Mashatile as treasurer-general.
The campaign in Vhembe and Sekhukhune included meetings with kings and traditional leaders.
Limpopo is one of the provinces where Ramaphosa and another presidential hopeful, former AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, are in a tense battle.
Mchunu has been one of a few ANC leaders heading Ramaphosa’s campaign in KwaZuluNatal, considered to be Dlamini Zuma’s stronghold.
Among senior ANC leaders who accompanied Ramaphosa on his Limpopo campaign trail were NEC members Mathole Motshekga and Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, whom he said he wanted in the party’s national executive.
Meanwhile, supporters of Dlamini Zuma descended on the West Rand in Gauteng to drum up support for her campaign. Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Association treasurer Des van Rooyen and Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane were in Kagiso to help her cause.