ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa at the governing party's 55th national conference at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected as president of the African National Congress (ANC) for a second term.
The seven were elected at the party’s 55th National Elective Conference at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Monday.
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More than 4 400 delegates cast their ballots during Sunday’s vote.
Ramaphosa, who bested former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize getting 2 476 votes while Mkhize got 1 897
Ramaphosa and Mkhize were the only nominees to lead the party.
Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who narrowly lost to Ramaphosa in the contest to lead the ANC in 2017, declined a nomination from the conference floor to run for the top post.
It was always going to be tight race but after Sunday’s voting and counting, it came down to the following seven to lead the ANC over the next five years.
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Deputy President – Paul Mashatile with 2 178 votes
National Chairperson – Gwede Mantashe with 2 062 votes
Secretary General – Fikile Mbalula with 1 692 votes
Deputy Secretary General – Nomvula Mokonyane with 2 145 votes
Second Deputy Secretary General – Maropene Ramokgopa with 2 373 votes
Treasurer General – Gwen Ramokgopa with 1 809 votes
ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe proved to be a dependable ally to Ramaphosa in his victory to the top position of the party.
It was Mantashe’s no-nonsense intervention that saved Ramaphosa from MPs who wished to break ranks with the party line on the Phala Phala report voting and the squashing of the booing by KwaZulu-Natal delegates in Nasrec.
This underscored his strategic role as the power behind the president’s political survival.
Earlier, the ANC’s national spokesman Pule Mabe told reporters that the party would investigate allegations of vote buying by some delegates involved in last minute horse trading once they were formally reported to the ANC.
“We have to take action against individuals who do such,” Mabe said.
ALSO READ: How Mantashe saved Ramaphosa
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