The Sandton branch of the African National Congress (ANC) has not drawn up or endorsed any list of desired candidates for ANC leadership positions due to be determined later this year.
”The ANC Sandton branch is not aware of any ‘list’ that was supposedly circulated and adopted by the leadership in relation to the national conference in Limpopo,” said branch chairperson Lawrence Khoza in a statement on Wednesday. ”The branch is not aware of some ‘comrades’ list’ which the branch is allegedly expected to endorse.”
Khoza was responding to a City Press article published this week that alleged the party had created a list of who it wanted in the ANC’s top six leadership positions.
The article also said the branch was expected to endorse the ”Mbeki list”, which cites him for the ANC presidency.
The list reportedly also has Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as deputy president, Joel Netshitenzhe as national chairperson and Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota as the secretary general.
”As far as we are concerned, there is only one list to nominate comrades from — and that is the ANC’s list,” said Khoza.
The City Press article also claimed the branch had sent one of its members to see if Cyril Ramaphosa was willing to be nominated for the presidency and found out he was not willing to go against Mbeki.
”At no stage did the branch ever send ‘a branch executive member’, or anybody, for that matter, to establish whether or not comrade Cyril Ramaphosa is available for nomination, and neither has the branch ever discussed any issues related to the nomination or otherwise of comrade Cyril Ramaphosa,” said Khoza. — Sapa