Pretoria - The ANC in Ekurhuleni has reiterated its support for the party’s regional chairperson Mzwandile Masina to replace Paul Mashatile as the treasurer-general at the national elective conference in December.
Yesterday, Ekurhuleni ANC deputy chairperson Jongizizwe Dlabathi, speaking after the party regional executive committee meeting on Wednesday night, said they had already rallied the support of their party’s zonal structures to nominate Mashatile for the position of deputy president of the ANC.
The region also wants ANC head of organising Nomvula Mokonyane to become deputy secretary-general and Masina the treasurer.
If Masina secures the post, Dlabathi is most likely to succeed him as provincial chairperson.
The Ekurhuleni regional structure became the first in Gauteng to express its leadership preferences more than two months ago, however, fell short of announcing its preferred candidate for the ANC presidency.
While the province under Panyaza Lesufi made a pronouncement on Ramaphosa and Mashatile, the other four regions have yet to pronounce their preferences.
“We have not nominated anyone for the presidency.
“Those are the only three names we’ve put forward to our branches in the region to be supported at the national conference,” Dlabathi added.
He emphasised that none of the contenders such as Cyril Ramaphosa, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Lindiwe Sisulu and Dr Zweli Mkhize were considered for election in their region.
Delivering his address at the regional executive committee on Wednesday, Dlabathi said: “I must appeal to the entire regional collective that we must strive to move towards the national conference with some level of coherence, especially on the leadership question.
“The starting point is that of advancing our perspective of rallying behind Comrade Paul Mashatile for deputy president, Comrade Nomvula Mokonyane as deputy secretary-general and comrade Mzwandile Masina for treasurer-general,” he said.
Dlabathi emphasised that they would support Masina despite him facing challenges from other candidates such as outgoing national spokesperson Pule Mabe; former ANC Youth League deputy president Andile Lungisa and Ramaphosa’s special adviser Benjani Chauke.
While Dlabathi appeared confident that Masina would be elected to the top six of the party, Lungisa also used social media to show he was leading the pack to become the next treasurer-general.
In his WhatsApp post on Tuesday, Lungisa said out of the 57% of branches that had conducted their biennial branch general meetings and nominated their candidates for the top six positions, he was leading his contenders for the party’s treasurer-general position.
He said he had already amassed 32% of support, Masina 20%, Bejani (Chauke) 14% and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana 4%.
Lungisa further said Ramaphosa led the race for the presidency at 32%, Mashatile 35% for deputy president and Limpopo chairperson Stan Mathabatha at 47% for the position of national chairperson.
According to Lungisa, Mokonyane had the highest support at 51% for the deputy secretary-general post, while former ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli enjoys 30% of support for the secretary-general position.
But Dlabathi remained unfazed and expressed confidence that Masina would make it.
He also expressed concern about the number of people who had volunteered their availability to stand and be nominated to the ANC’s 80-member national executive committee through social media platforms
“Furthermore, we must embrace the clarion view for the emergence of a younger, capable and fit for purpose generation,” Dlabathi added.
Pretoria News