DD is oppossed to Zuma’s ‘remedy’

DD Mabuza says he doesn’t believe a ‘remedy’ automatically giving a presidential candidate who had lost the deputy position will be solution enough to end slates and factionalism.

Mabuza said he believes reaching “leadership consensus” is the way to go than making the losing presidential candidate automatically the deputy president.

Zuma made the proposal when he was closing the ANC’s national policy conference in Nasrec, Soweto in July 2017, proposing to delegates that the presidential candidate “who became number two or who did not win to be the deputy of the one who won.”

“This is a remedy to kill factions in the ANC,” Zuma said.

“These are proposals to take to the branches. Even if we don’t apply it in the conference in December, we apply it in the conference thereafter, I have no problem,” the outgoing ANC president said.

But Mabuza believes that this will not be the proper solution.

“That’s just too mechanical,” he said.

“You must allow a contest in the deputy, you must allow a contest in all the positions, don’t say ‘because you have lost this one, get this’. No,” Mabuza said.

He was being interviewed by Onkgopotse JJ Tabane on Power FM on Tuesday night. He said he believed what should be done is reaching a “leadership consensus” where they will “just decide who should lead the ANC”.

When asked whether Zuma’s proposed ‘remedy’ was not the same as their proposal for a ‘leadership consensus’, Mabuza said the remedy “is far from what I understand by leadership consensus”.

He said as the ANC they will have to sit down and look at who they believe is fit to lead them than making the candidate who lost automatically the deputy.

“Finally all of us are going to persuade one another until we come to the one that will be best and lead the ANC,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Mabuza keeps South Africa guessing ahead of ANC’s 54th congress

(edited by MLM)

Send tips to editor@013.co.za