Durban - Former AU Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has taken an early lead in KwaZulu-Natal in terms of nominations received for the ANC presidency.
According to figures released by ANC KZN officials on Thursday morning, Dlamini Zuma had way more nominations compared with those of her closest rival, ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa. A total of 260 branches have nominated Dlamini Zuma, while 69 have opted for Ramaphosa.
However the process of convening branch general meetings, where candidates are nominated, is still under way and expected to be completed within the next two weeks.
In eThekwini, 57 branches out of 110 have convened branch general meetings and all those have nominated Dlamini Zuma.
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So far Ramaphosa enjoys majority support in smaller regions like Abaqulusi, where 16 branches nominated him, while seven nominated Dlamini Zuma and only two nominated ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize.
Emalahleni has also shown support for Ramaphosa, as 13 branches nominated him while only 6 nominated Dlamini Zuma.
However, Dlamini Zuma enjoys majority support in the bigger regions such as Moses Mabhida where out of the 60 branches that have convened BGMs only one nominated Ramaphosa, while all others nominated the former AU Commission chairwoman.
The KwaZulu-Natal ANC said it was confident that a Dlamini Zuma presidency was imminent.
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Spokesperson Mdumiseni Ntuli said South Africans would know within a month that the conference “is done”. He said the Mpumalanga province was expected to throw a massive send off rally for Dlamini Zuma towards the end of the month and this would be a show of support for the candidate. Dlamini Zuma supporters are also supporting Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza for the position of deputy president.
Mpumalanga is the second largest province of the ANC and signs that it will throw its weight behind Dlamini Zuma are a major boost to her campaign.
Other leaders who have emerged as favourites for the “top six” positions include Nathi Mthethwa for national chairperson position, Ace Magashule for the position of secretary general, Jesse Duarte for the position of deputy secretary general, and Nomvula Mokonyane for the position of treasurer general.
“The path is quite difficult but it is becoming even clearer every day,” said Ntuli.
But he said should Ramaphosa be elected president of the ANC, the party in the province would support him.
While some branches, especially in eThekwini, have complained about irregularities in the branch general meetings, Bheki Ntuli, the secretary of the ANC in eThekwini, said only one appeal had been received, from ward 35 in uMhlanga.
Members are expected to lodge appeals within 48 hours of the branch general meetings having been convened, he said.