ANC leadership contest hots up

President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged as the biggest winner in the ANC nomination process, securing the endorsement of more ANC branches than any other candidate, but most of the top six positions are still fair game.

Ramaphosa appears set for a successful bid for a second term as leader of the party, with only a negative finding from the parliamentary panel tasked with investigating whether he has a case to answer over the Phala Phala scandal standing in his way.

The three-person panel appointed to determine whether Ramaphosa should face impeachment is set to deliver its report on 6 December, having already sought an extension to consider representations from the head of state and others.

The first part of the nominations process came to a close on Tuesday when the party’s electoral committee head Kgalema Motlanthe announced 16 party leaders were eligible to battle it out for the top positions at the party’s elective conference next month. As expected, Ramaphosa emerged as the frontrunner for a second term as party leader ahead of Zweli Mkhize, who received less than half of Ramaphosa’s votes.