ANCYL leader list a ‘recipe for disaster’
If the youth league's preferred choices rise to power, the ANC is likely to suffer a 'credibility crisis'.
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – APRIL 20: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma addresses the ANC Youth League members and students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) on April 20, 2017 in Durban, South Africa. Dlamini-Zuma addressed DUT students and ANCYL members on issues of free education. Picture: Gallo Images
A leading political analyst has criticised an ANC leadership slate proposed by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) that calls for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to be the next ANC president as a “recipe for disaster” for the ruling party’s electoral fortunes in 2019.
With the league’s huge influence on Zuma and his ANC faction, those it nominated could be the next government South Africa has to live with.
During a post-leadership meeting media briefing in Johannesburg yesterday, the league announced a long-expected ANC national leadership slate that political analyst Ralph Mathekga described as “factional”.
The league’s secretary-general, Njabulo Nzuzo, denied the list was a slate: “There is a lot of thought put into it,” Nzuzo said.
After Dlamini-Zuma as president, there were nominations of two “premier league” lobbyists – Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza and Free State Premier Ace Magashule – as deputy president and secretary-general candidates, respectively.
Jessie Duarte, a Zuma diehard, was proposed as retaining her position as deputy secretary-general while Police Minister Fikile Mbalula was earmarked for a proposed new position of second deputy secretary-general.
The league plans to bring International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane back from her political isolation as party treasurer-general while Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa is the league’s candidate for national chairperson.
None of the current top three Zuma opponents, Gwede Mantashe, Cyril Ramaphosa or Zweli Mkhize, appears on the list.
In justifying their choice, Nzuzo said the names came from feedback from its lower structures at provincial and regional levels.
Analyst Mathekga said the list showed no willingness by the league to compromise on some issues.
“If elected this way, the new leadership will have an outright credibility crisis.
“The list also shows that some members of the ANC lack a sense of awareness regarding the pulse of society in relation to the ANC,” Mathekga added.
When asked why Cyril Ramphosa was not their presidency choice, league president Collen Maine said that there was nothing special about Ramaphosa.
He said the constitution allowed them to back anyone they liked. – ericn@citizen.co.za
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