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·      Mpumalanga premier and provincial ANC chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, calls for “negotiated” or “arranged” leadership ·      Ndlovu warns of another splinter from the ANC ·      SACP’s decision to contest election will cause abstension of voters

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Sizwe sama Yende

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Mpumalanga premier and provincial ANC chairperson, Mandla Ndlovu, has urged ANC members to let President Cyril Ramaphosa finish his term and buck the trend of causing splinter organisations.

Ndlovu told delegates at the sitting of the Ehlanzeni conference in Mbombela that he personally would prefer a negotiated or arranged leadership when the party elects its national executive committee members and officials in 2027. Delegates of Ehlanzeni, the biggest of the three ANC regions in Mpumalanga, are electing new leadership with Safety, Security and Community Liaison MEC Jackie Macie expected to retain his position.

Ramaphosa’s second term as ANC president expires in 2027.  Although the country’s constitution is clear that a president serves two terms, the ANC’s constitution has no limitation on the number of years the party’s president should serve.

Ndlovu’s warning aims to avoid fierce presidential contestations that previously saw the formation of the Congress of the People (Cope) in 2008 after former president Jacob Zuma contested his predecessor, President Thabo Mbeki, in Polokwane and won.

In 2012, there was another splinter. This time it was ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members whose leadership had irreconcilable differences with Zuma. This tension culminated in the dismissal of then ANCYL president, Julius Malema, who then formed the Economic Freedom Fighters.

Zuma then tasted his own medicine in February 2018 when he was unceremoniously fired as the country’s president after Ramaphosa’s CR17 faction had won the conference in December 2017 against Zuma’s preferred successor, his former wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Zuma was so aggrieved, he went on to establish the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party and destabilised the ANC, particularly in KZN and Mpumalanga.

MPUMALANGA IS A GOOD EXAMPLE

Ndlovu hinted that the delegates to the national conference could take a leaf out of the Mpumalanga ANC, which let former premier, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, finish her term after Ndlovu won the provincial conference in 2022.

“The NEC has said that it’s not the right time to discuss the succession debate, but most of us are eager to know what will happen after 2027. My view is like that of Nelson Mandela. He believed that contestation for president divided organisations and caused splinters,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu added that there was no need for the ANCYL to pronounce their candidate. The youth wing has strongly indicated that they would support a young leader and not a “pensioner.”

Some branches in Limpopo and Gauteng are beginning to discuss Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, as their candidate.

This proposal goes against the ANC’s tradition of having a deputy taking the baton from the president. Ordinarily, it would be deputy president, Paul Mashatile, succeeding Ramaphosa.

Other names being bandied about include International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola, and ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula.

SACP STANDING ALONE

Ndlovu warned that the SACP’s decision to stand alone to contest state power would not attract new voters. He said that the liberation vote – for black liberation parties - had remained at 72% since 1994. White parties had consistently won 28% of the vote.

“By contesting state power, the SACP will not shift electoral support from right to the left, but cannibalise electoral support of the left,” Ndlovu said.

“The vote of Cope, EFF and MK are shared by those people who did not abandon liberation ideas.”

Ndlovu said that he foresaw voters deciding to abstain in the next general elections because the SACP’s decision.

“Voters can’t make a rational choice between the two organisations. We stand to lose both of us just like in the Seshego (near Polokwane in Limpopo) and Matsimaholo (in Sasolburg, Free State) by-elections. The ANC was overwhelmed while the SACP was underwhelmed,” Ndlovu said.

The EFF won Seshego ward 13 by 54.37%. The ANC got 40% and the SACP achieved only one per cent. The DA won Metsimaholo by 60%.