Ramaphosa primed to keep his top spot in the ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) has announced the nominations for its top six positions, naming the members who will be up for election at the party’s December conference.
Whoever emerges as the new leadership at the conference will go on to contest the next national elections – planned for 2024 – and stand to gain a position of power, leading the country.
Following the ousting of former president Jacob Zuma in 2017, current president Cyril Ramaphosa has been leading the ANC on a theme of reform and rooting out corruption.
This has seen the president fall out of favour with some factions within the party and has seen some of his key opponents pushed to the side in the race for the presidency.
Despite this, Ramaphosa emerged as the clear front-runner in the contest, scoring a majority vote from around 4,000 ANC members who nominated the leaders.
The only other name to emerge in contesting the ANC’s top spot was former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who secured a nomination from ANC branches in KwaZulu Natal. Both Ramaphosa and Mkhize will be contesting the spot under a cloud of political scandal.
Ramaphosa has been criticised for his silence around the Phala Phala scandal, where large sums of money are alleged to have been stolen from the president’s farm and smuggled out of the country. Investigative processes are underway, but there has been little in the way of transparency surrounding the incident.
Mkhize, meanwhile, was forced to resign from his position as health minister in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic after being implicated in the R150 million Digital Vibes scandal, where he and his family were alleged to have benefited from contracts linked to his portfolio. The former minister has vowed to fight the allegations and clear his name.
Aside from the position of president and treasurer-general – which only had two names up for nomination – the other positions in the top six all had three names put forward for election.
Current treasurer General and acting secretary general of the party, Paul Mashatile, leads for the role of deputy president, while Limpopo premier Stanley Mathabatha will go head to head with Gwede Mantashe for the position of chairperson.
Former ANC KZN provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli is leading the nominations for the party’s new secretary-general, alongside KZN’s nomination, Phumulo Muswane, and transport minister Fikile Mbalula, who secured enough votes to contest the role.
Missing from the nomination roll are names that were in the spotlight during the hotly-contested 2017 conference: Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is not in the running, and neither is tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who both threw their names in the ring leading up to the vote.
Also missing are current deputy president David Mabuza and many names who were not allowed to stand for nomination, thanks to the party’s step-aside rule.
The nominations are as follows:
President
- Cyril Ramaphosa – 2,037
- Zweli Mkhize – 916
Deputy President
- Paul Mashatile – 1,791
- Ronald Lamola – 427
- Oscar Mabuyane – 397
Chairperson
- Stanley Mathabatha – 1,492
- Gwede Mantashe – 979
- David Masondo – 501
Secretary-General
- Mdumiseni Ntuli – 1,225
- Phumulo Muswane – 889
- Fikile Mbalula – 749
Deputy Secretary General
- Nomvula Mokonyane – 1,779
- Fébé Potgieter – 905
Treasurer General
- Bejani Chauke – 552
- Pule Mabe – 428
- Mzwandile Masina – 348
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