Johannesburg - ANC President Jacob Zuma is at the top of the party’s list of candidates for public office after next year’s general elections.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told a media conference in Joburg on Tuesday that Zuma was part of the top 25 ANC parliamentarians who would be retained by the ruling party.
The revelation was made as the ANC prepared for its two-day national list conference scheduled for St George’s Hotel in Centurion this weekend.
Mantashe said the conference was a culmination of a robust and vibrant democratic process of selecting public representatives by the party
“It is only the ANC that subjects its policies and selection of public representatives to a comprehensive and thorough process of democracy - an expression of our commitment to democratic processes, traditions and imperatives. It is only the ANC that delivers to the people of South Africa an electoral product that is unquestionably a people’s process.”
He confirmed that 60 percent of the ANC’s representatives in the nine provincial legislatures would be retained. He said this was the choice of party branches and regions across the country.
While the ANC did not discuss the political future of some of its senior officials facing criminal charges, including Northern Cape provincial chairman John Block, Mantashe said the national executive committee would make a final decision on the selection of candidates.
“The ANC commends and thanks our volunteers, members and structures for participating in their numbers in a thorough process to select their public representatives and for making their views in the development of the ANC election manifesto a people’s manifesto,” Mantashe said.
The party is expected to launch its manifesto on January 11, during its 102nd birthday bash at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga.
The Star