Why Mantashe rejected offer by ANC lobbyists to be Ramaphosa’s deputy

The ANC secretary-general also slammed leaders who were actively campaigning for the presidency, saying they had no self-control and discipline.

Secretary General of the ANC Gwede Mantashe. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia

Gwede Mantashe was speaking in the Eastern Cape and addressing a meeting convened at the Kwa-Nomzamo community hall, The Sowetan reports.

He said he had been approached by a lobby group and asked to take up the deputy president position on Cyril Ramaphosa’s slate.

The ANC elective conference will be held at the end of the year, with Lindiwe Sisulu and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma tipped as front-runners for the presidency.

“I told them that it is going to fail on two accounts. Because the expectation for the ANC in 2017 is for Ramaphosa to have a deputy female president, the ANC won’t accept an all-male presidency.

“Secondly, Ramaphosa and I were together in NUM. You may think people don’t care about that, but it will come out,” said Mantashe.

He added several candidates who had put themselves forward for leadership positions in the ANC had a lack of self-control and discipline.

“The last time the ANC had so many contestants for the position of the president was in 1952 when they were contesting against Chief Albert Luthuli. We cannot have the same thing happen again in 2017,” he said.