With only two weeks to go before the ruling party’s crunch national policy conference, most of the party’s provincial structures have not taken an official position regarding President Thabo Mbeki standing as African National Congress (ANC) president for a third term.
Only the Eastern Cape, despite protests from some branches, indicated after its provincial policy conference a week ago that it would support Mbeki should he stand again for election at the party’s December national conference.
KwaZulu-Natal, on the other hand, adopted a resolution at its conference on Sunday against Mbeki standing again — becoming the first province to openly reject the notion of ”two centres of power”.
However, it remains to be seen whether Mpumalanga, scheduled to hold its conference on Monday, will come up with any resolution on the issue.
Limpopo, which held its conference on Saturday, is reported not to have discussed the proposal at all.
The national policy conference to be held in Midrand, Gauteng, is expected to take a decision on whether the positions of ANC president and president of the country can be held by two different people.
Although none of the other five provinces have officially rejected the ”two centres of power” idea, speculation is rife that they are against it.
While the South African Constitution bars Mbeki from serving as the country’s president for more than two terms, the ANC constitution is silent on the issue.
This has led to speculation Mbeki could contest this year’s ANC presidential elections for a third time. — Sapa