KZN ANC insiders said Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s decision to announce her availability to run as president was a strategic move, as it came on the day branches across the country started the nomination process to elect candidates for National Executive Committee positions. Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. Picture: Supplied.
Durban - Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma’s decision to stand for the position of ANC president has pitted her against Dr Zweli Mkhize who has also emerged as a strong contender for the top job.
Over the weekend, her spokesperson, Mlungisi Mtshali, said she had been approached by party branches to contest against Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s December conference.
Mtshali said the branches would nominate candidates and Dlamini Zuma would avail herself should the branches decide to nominate her. At the 2017 elective conference at Nasrec, Dlamini Zuma lost to Ramaphosa by 179 votes.
Mkhize, the former health minister, is also believed to be a strong candidate for party president.
KZN ANC insiders said Dlamini Zuma’s decision to announce her availability to run as president was a strategic move, as it came on the day branches across the country started the nomination process to elect candidates for National Executive Committee positions.
“She is a strong candidate who is not tainted by any allegations. At the last conference she was very strong and it was a marginal defeat. Contrary to suggestions, KZN is united and will rally behind the strongest candidate.
“Engagements with provinces like the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo will be crucial and we will see these discussions taking place in the next few weeks,” said one source.
Another source said the province realised that if it went into another national conference divided, it would “come off second best”.
Mkhize’s lobbyists said he has been endorsed by branches and the outcome of the branch nominations for NEC positions would reveal the extent of the support he had.
Ramaphosa is going to the conference under immense pressure for failing to reveal what happened during and after the robbery at his Phala Phala farm. The matter is being investigated by the Public Protector and the Hawks.
Although some provinces have publicly endorsed Ramaphosa, the December election may go down to the wire.
Sources said the provincial leadership of a province may publicly endorse a presidential candidate but support may not necessarily reflect how branches feel.
“In the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga the branches may feel differently about who should be president and if they align with KZN, then this is a formidable grouping to take to the elective conference,’’ a KZN-based source said.
ANC leaders from Mpumalanga and KZN held a meeting in Durban on Monday where it is believed the issues of leadership and policy were discussed.
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said a special Provincial Executive Committee meeting would be held soon to help guide branches in the nomination process.
“The position in KZN is simple, to allow branches to lead those processes. Branches have capacity, they know the challenges the ANC is facing and they know the leader they want,” he said.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said KZN would need to reflect carefully before it decided who to back.
“They need to decide whether they are motivated to unseat the current president or if they are motivated by the balance of forces and the formula that the ANC uses for representation in its leadership, which is 25% youth representation, 50% women.
“Then they need to ask themselves which of the candidates will be more appealing,” he said.
Seepe said both Dlamini Zuma and Mkhize had good pedigrees as they were both in the Struggle and were experienced in government.
He said Dlamini Zuma was heavily supported in 2017, but there was a miscalculation and naivety by key players who did not anticipate a worst-case scenario.
“Some expected Dlamini Zuma, when she lost in 2017, to jump ship as the party experienced divisions but she did not as she is a disciplined member of the ANC.
“When Mkhize was health minister, he displayed a presidential posture. He was punished for his own success but he, too, stepped aside, of his own volition, and undertook as promised to fight this in court,” Seepe said.