President Jacob Zuma has denied that he promised to serve only one term as ANC president shortly after he was elected at the party’s conference in Polokwane four years ago, the New Age reported on Wednesday.
“I never said I would serve one term and I have never said that I would want two terms,” he said in an interview with the paper.
“I said a second term is a decision of the ANC but people twist it now. I have never defied the ANC. If the ANC said serve one term, that will be fine. I am a cadre of the ANC.”
Reports quoting senior party sources at the time of the conference held at Polokwane, Limpopo, claimed Zuma had made a commitment to serve only one term.
Meanwhile, the party’s youth league is preparing for its Midrand conference at which leaders will be elected from June 16 to 20.
On Monday, the youth league in Gauteng announced its support for leader Julius Malema, despite reports that its chairperson Lebogang Maile was a contender with the backing of senior ANC leaders, including Zuma.
“The Gauteng PGC [provincial general council] resolved to nominate and sponsor the name of incumbent ANCYL president Julius Malema as a candidate for president,” Maile told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.
Malema received the support of four out of five regions, garnering 271 votes compared to Maile’s 219.
The ANCYL leadership could be a key player in the ANC’s leadership contest in Mangaung in 2012.
Under Malema, the ANCYL would reportedly not back Zuma for a second term. It would also want the party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe replaced by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, who is a former president of the youth league.
‘Best leader’
Malema on Monday said former president Thabo Mbeki was the “best” leader produced by the ANC.
“Mbeki is the best leader the ANC has ever produced. There are those who hated him with a passion but forgot that Mbeki, during his leadership, had produced a two-thirds majority during elections,” he was quoted as saying by the Times newspaper.
“Those who hate Mbeki are jealous of his achievements. He was the most educated and clever.
“The only problem with Mbeki was failing to allow the leadership the ANC to decide on who they wanted in the leadership, and for wanting a third term in leading the organisation. Apart from that he was the best and I respect him for that,” Malema was quoted as saying by the paper in his speech at a meeting of the league’s Limpopo provincial general council in Polokwane. – Sapa and Staff reporter