A thinly veiled attempt to excise the Jacob Zuma "troublemakers" from the party's top echelons seems to underpin the list for the ANC's 60-member national executive, lobbied for by President Thabo Mbeki's supporters ahead of the party's Limpopo congress in December.
The Zuma supporters' list, on the other hand, makes some attempt at conciliation and bring ing back into the fold those they perceive to have fallen victim to the Mbeki camp, but excludes some top leaders; significantly, Mosiuoa Lekota, the ANC chairperson.
With two months to go before the ANC congress, where a vote may determine the party president for the first time in 58 years, horse-trading is in full swing.
The 1 700-odd branches are finalising their nominations this month, and the nearly 3 700 delegates will make the final choice for a leadership that could determine the country's direction for the next 10 years.
The stand-off is complete, with Zuma not on the Mbeki list and vice versa. Tokyo Sexwale, the other open contender for the ANC presidency, is on neither list. Sexwale's list is believed to contain only 10 names.
Attempts to bridge the chasms are already apparent, with Mbeki supporters in the Zuma heartland, KwaZulu-Natal, ironically circulating an amendment this week that includes Zuma on the Mbeki list. On the other hand, the latest amended Zuma list still excludes Mbeki.
So far, Zuma's former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the foreign minister, is the only candidate on both camps' lists for the top six ANC leaders.
The other two most punted compromise candidates get a mixed reception. The Zuma camp wants Kgalema Motlanthe, the ANC secretary-general, as the deputy president, but the Mbeki camp slots him in at the top of its NEC list. Cyril Ramaphosa is number 28 on the Mbeki list and 50 on the Zuma list.
There are conspicuous absences of current NEC members: neither list features Mendi Msimang, the ANC treasurer-general, though his wife, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the controversial health minister, is at position 40 on the Mbeki list.
Lekota is nowhere on the Zuma list, although the Mbeki camp wants him as secretary-general.
Policy guru Joel Netshitenzhe, Thoko Didiza - the public works minister, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the deputy president - among Mbeki supporters' top six nominees - are included in the Zuma top 60.
The Mbeki camp's 90 nominees completely excludes three of the Zuma top-six list, including Zuma himself, Gwede Mantashe, the South African Communist Party chairperson, and Mathews Phosa, the former Mpumalanga premier - an apparent attempt to get rid of Zuma loyalists.
Two significant exclusions - Paul Mashatile, the newly elected Gauteng chairperson, and Enoch Godongwana, a serving NEC member - are both understood to feature prominently on the Sexwale list.
The amended Zuma list - which features 103 names acceptable for the top 59 NEC posts - includes a who's who of those perceived to have been victims of the Mbeki camp and the embattled national prosecuting authority (NPA).
They are Billy Masetlha, the axed intelligence boss; Siphiwe Nyanda, the former defence force chief; Tony Yengeni, the former chief whip, along with his wife, MP Lumka Yengeni; sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge; and Ngoako Ramatlhodi, the former Limpopo premier.
Mac Maharaj, the former transport minister, is at 103. He has challenged the constitutionality of some provisions of the National Prosecuting Authority Act and is apparently under investigation for corruption.
As expected, they are excluded by Mbeki lobbyists.
Most conspicuously absent from the Mbeki list are Blade Nzimande, the SA Communist Party general secretary, and his deputy, Jeremy Cronin, who are both NEC members.
The Zuma list punts the entire SACP leadership, including Cronin, alongside Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, while the Mbeki list features Vavi's enemy number one, Willie Madisha, the federation's embattled chairperson.
Cosatu's central committee last month endorsed the Zuma top-six list, adding its voice to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the ANC Youth League.
The new SACP treasurer, Pumulo Masualle, an Eastern Cape MPL, is number two on the Zuma list, while the Mbeki list instead makes provision for the SACP's suspended former treasurer, Phillip Dexter.
Both lists make a valiant stab at gender parity, going well over the one-third requirement, with the Zuma camp featuring 31 women in the top 65, while the Mbeki list is at 30.
NEC newcomers punted exclusively by Mbeki supporters include Silumko Nondwangu, the National Union of Metalworkers general secretary; MP Pam Tshwete, spouse of the late safety and security minister Steve Tshwete; Andries Nel, the ANC deputy chief whip; and MPs Langa Zita and Zoe Kota.
The Zuma camp's injection of new blood includes Siyabonga Cwele, the chairman of parliament's intelligence oversight committee; Fikile Mbalula, the ANCYL leader; MK veterans Janet Love and Ayanda Dlodlo; Nomaindia Mfeketo, a former Cape Town mayor; Lynne Brown, a Western Cape MEC; Tina Joemat-Petersen, a Northern Cape MEC; and Limpho Hani, wife of the murdered SACP leader.