List of ANC premier candidates is fake, says ANC

The ANC has cautioned South Africans not to be taken in by a purported list of names circulating claiming to be of the ANC’s candidates for premiers following the May provincial elections.

The ANC made it clear this week that it would not be drawn into announcing its list of premier candidates ahead of the 2019 elections. ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete has also dismissed the list, which features a number of names of existing premiers continuing in the role, with a few new names tossed in for good measure.

The list (and we repeat this is not confirmed, never mind real) puts the candidates as follows:

Gauteng: Cde David Makhura
Limpopo: Cde Stan Mathabatha
Mpumalanga: Cde Sasekani Manzini
North West: Cde Madoda Sambatha
Northern Cape: Cde Zamani Saul
Western Cape: Cde Khaya Magaxa
Eastern Cape: Cde Oscar Mabuyane
KZN: Cde James Nxumalo
Free State: Cde Sisi Ntombela

It may nevertheless turn out to be quite close to the final list once the dust settles after May 8.

Mmusi Maimane, with the DA’s Western Cape premier candidate Alan Winde, have criticised the ANC for their ongoing secrecy on the matter.

He alleged the ANC wanted to only announce its list after elections so they could supposedly impose “corrupt leaders” on unsuspecting voters.

However, Legoete responded that the ANC approach has been consistent and that after elections each provincial executive committee sits and recommend names in order of preference.

“These names will be presented to a national deployment committee and adopted by the NEC of the ANC,” he told IOL. “That is how we as the ANC do it and we have always done it this way.”

(Edited by Charles Cilliers)

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