Ramaphosa gets boost for presidency bid from Zamani Saul

The Sunday Times has reported that the ANC’s Northern Cape provincial secretary intends to follow ANC tradition by advocating for the party’s deputy to succeed the president.

Zamani Saul, expected to become the provincial chairman after John Block’s corruption conviction in 2015 left the position vacant, told the paper in an interview that the whole point of Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as deputy president, as with all deputies, was “with a view to succession in mind, and that is the issue we are dealing with”.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: Chester Makana

Although the Northern Cape only sends a small delegation to ANC elective conferences, its numbers could play a crucial role if Ramaphosa hopes to beat the other frontrunner for the position, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chairperson of the African Union Commission.

Saul’s view runs counter to that of President Jacob Zuma, who has attempted to create the impression that there is no succession tradition in the ANC.

Zuma has expressed the view that he would like a woman to lead, which almost everyone has interpreted as an endorsement of his former wife, with whom he has four children.

The ANC’s elective conference takes place in December.

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