Incumbent African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa will face former health minister Zweli Mkhize for leadership of the party at the organisation’s elective conference set for December, ANC Electoral committee chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe has confirmed.
Announcing nominations for the ANC’s top six leadership positions on Tuesday, Motlanthe said 16 candidates have thrown into the hat to contest for positions, including two for the presidency of the party.
The surprising missing candidate in the line-up is Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former African Union Commission chairperson who had expressed interest in the ANC presidency.
Dlamini-Zuma’s ex-husband and former South African president Jacob Zuma had also announced that he would seek the party’s chairmanship at this year’s elective conference.
He has not done so, according to the nomination list.
Paul Mashatile, Ronald Lamola and Oscar Mabuyane have been nominated for the position of deputy president, while the branches nominated Nomvula Mokonyane and Febe Potgieter for deputy secretary general – the only female candidates to grace the nomination list.
Speaking to the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Motlanthe said all nominees accepted their nominations ahead of the ANC’s 55th National Conference in December in Johannesburg.
“The names that have been successfully nominated and audited, and as the Electoral Committee asked each one of them whether they accept the nomination or not, and they have all confirmed as such, that they accept the nomination,” the chairperson said.
NM/jn/APA