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The election to the all-powerful African National Congress (ANC) is warming up in every sense as two candidates sitting president Cyril Ramaphosa and his former health minister 66-year old Zweli Mkhize are pitted against each other
The election to the all-powerful African National Congress (ANC) is warming up in every sense as two candidates sitting president Cyril Ramaphosa and his former health minister 66-year old Zweli Mkhize are pitted against each other. The election to the party chief is crucial since the winning candidate will be the official nominee of the country’s presidential election set for 2024.
Presently, over 4500 delegates from South Africa’s nine provinces are gathered at a conference centre on the outskirts of Johannesburg to elect their next leader.
Analysts predict that despite his alleged involvement in the scandal involving the concealment of theft from his residence, the sitting president has an edge over his opponent. He still enjoys the official support of the party. But the larger issue is how well the party will perform during the scheduled presidential elections in 2024, as the ANC is steadily losing ground for the past decade. In the local elections that were held last year, the party’s share of votes plummeted to less than 50%.
There are grave national issues Ramaphosa has to address to regain power for the ANC, assuming that he wins the party chief’s election. High unemployment, rising crime rates, growing poverty and inequality, and to top it, record power cuts are the perennial issues that the country is confronting.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/ramaphosa-survives-impeachment-bid/
https://trendsnafrica.com/anc-delays-discussion-on-alleged-criminal-breach-by-ramaphosa/
https://trendsnafrica.com/call-for-resignation-of-ramaphosa-becoming-louder/
In the meantime, there are reports that at the party meeting, delegates were engaged in last-minute horse-trading to win more delegates to their side. The sitting president, who exudes optimism of winning elections, has been displaying serenity and authority at the meeting to show he is in total control, wearing his characteristic tight smile. The vote will take place, most probably next Saturday. Till then, both camps have the time to outwit each other in horse trading. Yet, the pendulum, as analysts say, is swinging more towards Rampaphosa. One has to wait and see till the election results are announced.
