Zuma urges ANC to ‘consider opponents’ in new leadership

Bloomberg

South African President Jacob Zuma said the ruling African National Congress is threatened by factionalism and urged senior members vying for top party posts to consider including opponents in the new leadership that will be elected at its national conference. “Factionalism has become the biggest threat to the organization,” Zuma told about 5,000 delegates in his opening speech to the conference in Johannesburg. “It is because of factiona-lism that we have seen the emergence of splinter groups over the past 10 years which negatively
affected our movement.”
He also said courts should not be asked to intervene in the internal process of the ANC after three rulings disqualified more than 100 delegates who were scheduled to vote at the party leadership conference. Court interventions are “gradually eroding the authority of the ANC,” he said. The Constitutional Court and High Court have repeatedly ruled against Zuma over the past two years, including that a corruption case against him should proceed.
The five-yearly gathering got underway almost seven hours late because the registration of delegates took longer than planned and there were disputes over who had the right to attend and vote. The contest to succeed Zuma is a two-horse race between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the president’s ex-wife, favored candidate and former chairwoman of the African Union Commission.
The hotly contested race has caused deep rifts in the ANC
and unnerved investors seeking political and policy clarity.
The currency has strengthened in recent days on confidence
that Ramaphosa, a lawyer and one of the richest black South Africans, is ahead.

COURT RULINGS
Ramaphosa’s campaign received a boost when the party’s National Executive Committee decided that delegates from 50 ANC branches in the North West and Free State provinces and the party leaders from KwaZulu-Natal and Free State whose election was declared invalid in court rulings won’t be allowed to vote. These provinces mainly back Dlamini-Zuma.
Zuma said the ANC should resolve its differences internally. “Petty squabbles that take the movement nowhere need to take a back seat,” he said in his speech. “Judges should not be asked
to dictate ANC organisational processes and the direction of the movement. Whoever takes the ANC to court has declared himself outside of the ANC.”
The president also called on the ANC to be more proactive in implementing “radical socio-economic transformation” to place more wealth in the hands of the black majority and address one of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Land must be more equitably distributed, draft laws that regulate black ownership of the mining industry must be finalized next year and more action must be taken to halt collusion among private companies, he said.
“We have to act decisively, as doing nothing almost guarantees that there will be no progress in tackling the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment,” he said. “On the other hand, reckless action will plunge the country into deep economic and social challenges.”
While Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma are the only two candidates to have been nominated for the party presidency by party branches, additional nominations can come from the conference floor if they are supported by at least a quarter of the delegates. The winner, who will also be the ANC’s candidate in 2019 elections, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said.

DLAMINI-ZUMA CAMPAIGN
Supporters of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is vying to become the leader of South Africa’s ruling party, plan to nominate Zweli Mkhize for chairman of the African National Congress, according to five people familiar with the matter.
Mkhize, the party’s treasurer-general who was also a candidate for leader, would compete against Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe for the position, the people said, asking not to be named because the negotiations are private. It’s not clear whether Mkhize will accept the nomination.

ANC’s Mbete may endorse Ramaphosa
Bloomberg

South Africa’s ruling party chairwoman, Baleka Mbete, plans to endorse Cyril Rama-phosa for president of the African National Congress,
according to sources.
Mbete, who is also a candidate to succeed Jacob Zuma as leader of the party and is the Speaker of Parliament, is expected to make the announcement later, sources said. The ANC is currently meeting in Johannesburg to choose new leaders. Mbete’s campaign
for the top position didn’t get the backing from any of the country’s nine provinces.