By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Thulani Mbele.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, current deputy president David Mabuza and tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu have not bowed out of the race, and will be hoping for a second chance at a top role within the party in December.
The current list was based on nominations from some 3,900 representatives from the provincial branches, but approximately 4,250 delegates will be attending the final conference where nominations from the floor will be allowed.
According to the City Press, this is where these overlooked hopefuls aim to get their place at the table.
The paper reports that Mabuza and Sisulu, in particular, are unhappy about being overlooked for nomination, with reps from their campaigns crying foul over the matter. Sisulu this week accused the ANC’s election committee of bias, saying the process was rigged in Cyril Ramaphosa’s favour.
Mabuza’s team, meanwhile, also spoke out against the nomination process, saying the country is in for a shock at the elective conference on 16 December, despite Ramaphosa’s comfortable lead.
Dlamini-Zuma meanwhile said that the nominations process was regressive, as it lacked female candidates.
She said that the ANC is far from united and that many interim structures for the party’s leagues are in place – including the women’s league, which did not back her – which may have led to alternative results.
Many of the overlooked candidates are expected to continue campaigning up until the conference in the hopes of being nominated and elected into positions. In the meantime, horse trading and slate changes are expected to take place behind closed doors.
The ANC revealed its nominated members for the party’s top six positions on Tuesday (22 November).
Ramaphosa emerged as the clear front-runner in the contest, scoring a majority vote from the 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.
The governing party is expected to hold its national congress from 16 to 20 December at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec, in the south of Joburg.