Will Mabuza decline nomination for deputy president position?

Those who understand the whole issue say the real ANC elections will occur inside conference.

ANC provincial leader DD Mabuza doesn’t really have a record where he signalled his availability to serve as the deputy president of the ANC.

Though his allies in the province are pro-Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – Mabuza on the other hand seems to be saying: ‘You comrades, please don’t send me there. I don’t think I want to go there’.

Answering media after their recent PGC in Mbombela on 1 December 2017 where they actually pronounced Unity, the chairman said after leaving as Mpumalanga leader he might go and do business.

“Anything, I can go and do business. There’s a lot of things to do, I was never born for positions,” he said, implying that he doesn’t care what happens to him after his provincial chairmanship time lapses.

In February 2017, Mabuza publicly slammed Free State leader Ace Magashule after he told mourners at the funeral of Mabuza’s brother in Mbombela that they want the man to be deputy president.

“As the ANC we have taken a decision to not discuss names,” Mabuza said a day after.

” … let’s talk about important issues like what have we done and what we need to do. Yes, people have a right to talk and discuss my name and I will not respond because they are talking about me not with me,” Mabuza said.

“I do not have to respond about the premier of Free State, all I can tell him is that do not break the rule of the ANC in my name. I hear people are talking in corners about me … there might be good and bad intentions,” he said.

“So the Premier [Magashule] came here to support me when I was burying my brother, so there were people of the ANC who came to support me. I let him speak to the members of the ANC, but he then… [said] if they want me they must elect me,” Mabuza said on 27 February 2017 during a press briefing.

He once asked eNCA journalist Justice Malala: “Have you ever seen me on any platform campaigning for position?”

Mabuza wants the entire ANC membership to sit and discuss the person they believe is suitable to lead the ANC and that person together with his or her leadership must be elected and be agreed upon by the delegates as a whole.

This will be called an ‘uncontested leadership’ and will be able to unite the organisation as that will be a person and a leadership collective elected by everybody than pre-determining who delegates should elect through slates.

He says this is the only way he can be available to serve but not when he is nominated to serve in a slate.

But supporters of the slate of Dlamini-Zuma are adamant that Mabuza will be the deputy president of the ANC come 20 December 2017.

Mabuza in all his public appearances would lambaste party members for speaking before the succession debate is officially opened, saying if all of them were preaching slates who would preach unity.

“We must guard this movement,” that would be Mabuza’s motto when addressing party supporters and members and possibly the ticket he will now use to delete his murky past and then climb to occupy a national prominent stage and be one of the leaders important for the survival of the ANC.

“If all of us are talking names and when no one is saying this thing is wrong, it’s a problem,” Mabuza would say.

“Let’s stop pronouncing and let’s focus at the work in our hands, that of bettering the lives of our people,” he would oftentimes be heard saying.

Supporters of Dlamin-Zuma want Mabuza to deputise her and they have been nominated by KZN, North West and Free State but Mpumalanga – a province that was thought to be an obvious NDZ province, chose not to pronounce her, pronouncing Unity.

But of all the Mpumalanga branches that had their BGMs over 51% defied voting for Mabuza’s Unity, nominating Dlamini-Zuma (26%) and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa (25%) and leaving Mabuza with only 48% of the total branch nominations.

(edited by ZK)

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