This is based on a survey on\u00a0the views of politics professors and lecturers from 10 South African universities, country risk advisers and research-group analysts who were surveyed by Bloomberg on 13 and 14 February 2017.<\/p>\n
According to the poll, eleven\u00a0of 26 analysts believe that former AU chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has an early edge in the battle to take over the helm of the party.<\/p>\n
In comparison, ten\u00a0of the analysts believe current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa will be the next president of the ANC. Five analysts were undecided.<\/p>\n
\u201cI doubt if there will be a third horse,\u201d said Tinyiko Maluleke, a political analyst at the University of Pretoria, who added it was too soon to predict who would win.<\/p>\n
“While ANC tradition should dictate that\u00a0Ramaphosa succeeds Zuma, there is a strong move within the\u00a0105-year-old party to appoint its first woman leader,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Bloomberg data echoes what has widely become common understanding in South Africa regarding the ANC’s presidential race.<\/p>\n While neither Dlamini-Zuma nor Ramaphosa have officially accepted nominations (a process the ANC is trying to snuff out until it is ready to commence open campaigning), a number of high profile groups such as Cosatu and the ANC Women’s League have been open in support of the two candidates.<\/p>\n Other names have been mentioned, but not with the same conviction as the aforementioned leaders.<\/p>\n These include ANC treasurer Zwele Mkhize (seen as a ‘compromise candidate’) and speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete, who is said to have thrown her lot in with\u00a0Mpumalanga premier, David Mabuza, according to the EFF.<\/p>\n The EFF and its leader Julius Malema have been outspoken about the ANC’s presidential election process, saying that Mabuza may emerge as a leading candidate. Malema believes that Mabuza is in with the Gupta family and “has the money”, while both Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa are dead ducks in the race.<\/p>\n The DA is preparing to govern<\/strong><\/p>\n According to insiders from both the ANC and DA, there has been a strong shift in energy in South African politics, with the ruling party stressed and uncertain about its future \u00a0– and the main opposition feeling bolder and ready to run the country.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Bloomberg-640x313.png\")
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