The African National Congress (ANC) in the North West has come out in support of President Thabo Mbeki to retain his position as the party’s president, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday.
The party held its provincial general council in Taung on Friday night. Other names on the province’s list of candidates for the top leadership positions are Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for deputy president, Mosiuoa Lekota for secretary general and Joel Netshitenzhe for national chairperson.
Mbeki also received the Western Cape’s support.
The Free State and Mpumalanga have nominated ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma for president.
Limpopo and the Northern Cape were still voting.
The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) has also thrown its weight behind Zuma for president of the party, with 34 out of 38 regions nominating him, and only two nominating Mbeki, the league announced in Johannesburg on Friday.
”We didn’t support him [Mbeki] for president of the ANC. We believe as a past president of the ANC he has a special role to play,” said ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula. ”It is not a position that we are eradicating him. We believe he has played his role. He has got nothing to lose, nothing to win; he has nothing to prove. We believe he must give others a chance — one leader at a time.”
After Zuma on the list, the ANCYL has nominated ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe for deputy president, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma for national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe for secretary general, Baleka Mbete for deputy secretary general and Mathews Phosa for treasurer. — Sapa