Johannesburg - The battle for the leadership of the ANC Youth League looks set to become a two-horse race between ANC national executive committee member Pule Mabe and national task team co-ordinator Magasela Mzobe.
The two are expected to face off at the league’s national conference, the dates for which are still to be confirmed after it was postponed last week.
Former league acting president Ronald Lamola’s campaign appears to be faltering, as his own province, Mpumalanga, is set to back Mabe and its provincial chairman, Mdu Ntuli, as the league secretary.
Mabe is a former treasurer of the league, having been removed by the previous leaders of the youth league after a fallout over, among other matters, their support for former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to replace Jacob Zuma as ANC president in 2012.
However, Mabe’s star in the party quickly rose after he broke ranks with the Julius Malema-led leadership, earning him a place in the party’s highest decision-making body between conferences.
His candidacy for leadership of the league has been endorsed by several provinces, including Gauteng, which has stated its support for him to lead the party.
Mzobe, on the other hand, enjoys the advantage of incumbency, as he has been leading the national task team that has been restructuring the organisation.
Following its establishment, the task team disbanded many provincial and regional structures that were seen to still be loyal to Malema.
Pule is expected to run, with Mpumalanga ANC Youth League chairman Ntuli running as the secretary for the league.
Mzobe’s slate includes another task team member, Mawethu Rune, as the secretary, both being former leaders of Sasco.
The Sunday Independent understands that Mabe already has several provinces backing him, including Mpumalanga, Free State, Western Cape and Limpopo.
Mzobe is known to enjoy the support of the Northern Cape and North West, while the two partly enjoy the support of Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Sunday Independent