Johannesburg - Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina slammed talk about the removal of President Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader next year, calling those rumours "disruptive".
Masina, who is also the ANC's regional chairperson in the only Gauteng metro the 107-year-old organisation governs, was responding to assertions that Ramaphosa would be removed as party leader at next year's National General Council (NGC) should the ANC have a poor showing at this year's elections.
The ANC's NGC is the mid-term review of the party's progress following its elective conference, the last of which was in December 2017 in Nasrec, south of Joburg.
Speaking to The Star on Wednesday outside Mogobeng Primary School in Katlehong after voting, Masina stressed that the NGC should be used to assess the ANC's progress, and not as an elective conference.
WATCH: Ekurhuleni Mayor @mzwandileMasina-- the Son of Katlehong's Son -- says the ANC in the metro will deliver more than 60% in order to help the party win GP outright. "We didn't campaign for coalitions," the Mayor asserted. @TheStar_news @ReporterStar @IOL #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/xRL63pihx6
— Khaya Sibulele Koko (@khayakoko88) May 8, 2019
"We have long passed Nasrec. The next (ANC leadership) elections will be in 2022. We have a leadership now which was elected and we are united behind it," Masina said.
He added that it was well known that he supported Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma for the ANC presidency, but had accepted what he said was the will of the voters. Masina also chastised the media for dividing the party.
"NDZ (Dlamini Zuma) and CR (Ramaphosa) have both said people must not use their names to drive a wedge within the ANC. Also, this thing of the media and other commentators trying to group us in factions is wrong," the mayor charged.
The ANC performed poorly in Gauteng at the 2016 Local Government Elections.
The DA received 38.4%, while the EFF, contesting its first local elections, gained a commendable 11% in Gauteng.
Most opinion polls released this week have predicted a coalition government after this year's elections, with predictions that no party would be able to reach the magical 50% mark to form its own cabinet.
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