President Jacob Zuma’s position as head of the ANC – and the country – is secure for one more year, as the ruling party has outright rejected calls for an early elective conference.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Friday,\u00a0party spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said that structures within the party had told ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe that they did not want an early conference – elective nor consultative.<\/p>\n
Mantashe had previously expressed that an early conference was something the party would consider if enough provincial structures and ANC leagues supported the idea.<\/p>\n
The ANC Youth League had called for an early elective conference on the back of a poor showing by the ruling party in the 2016 elections, in which it lost control of three major metros.<\/p>\n
Tripartite alliance member, the SACP, also backed the call for an early conference, by recommended that it be a consultative conference, rather than elective one, as the ANC was divided and needed to be unified in determining the party’s future.<\/p>\n
Zuma has been blamed for the divisions in the party, and his presidency has been questioned by vocal members of the ANC, its affiliates, business leaders and the public.<\/p>\n
There were calls for Zuma to step down following a number of high-profile scandals, including a constiutional court ruling against him;\u00a0hundreds of corruption charges waiting in the wings; and accusations of state capture surrounding his friendship with the Gupta family.<\/p>\n
However, with an early conference being a definitive “no”, the president will now finish his term as head of the party, and will leave the next 12 months open for what is expected to be a high tension battle within the ANC to elect its next leader.<\/p>\n
According to analysts and political insiders, the three main contenders for the position are deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa (backed by reformists, or the so-called ‘anti-Zuma’ faction) and AU chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (backed by Zuma and the so-called ‘tenderpreneur’ faction).<\/p>\n
Other possible contenders include SG Gwede Mantashe, speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete, and the most likely ‘compromise’ candidate, ANC treasurer\u00a0Zweli Mkhize.<\/p>\n
The ANC is expected to hold its elective conference in late 2017.<\/p>\n
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