Mahudu Sadike and Ntombi Nkosi
Pretoria - As the ANC presidential race heats up, contender and Co-operative and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has confirmed she would be taking on President Cyril Ramaphosa – and was in it to win it.
Others vying for the position, who have not yet declared that they will raise their hands, are embattled former health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, and Deputy President David Mabuza, who has been nominated by branches in Mpumalanga and the North West.
Billionaire businessman and Confederation for African Football Patrice Motsepe has also been nominated by a branch in Limpopo.
Political analysts have asserted that the nomination of other contenders was a sign of rejection of Ramaphosa.
Speaking on a television network on Friday, Dlamini Zuma said she had not been pronounced in terms of the leadership pronouncing candidates.
But she went as far as saying that even if she did not have the resources or not being of the right gender as those who have been pronounced, she vowed to stand for the position of president and was going to win and be the next ANC president.
“I am standing and I am going to win. Who enters a race to fail?” a confident Dlamini Zuma said.
She is raising her hand for the second time to become ANC president – five years ago she lost to Ramaphosa.
Dlamini Zuma said she did not want to focus on the past campaign but to look ahead.
She refuted reports suggesting that her campaign team met hopeful, Sisulu, who was also a woman.
“I am not aware of any meeting. I am an ANC member; I talk to all ANC members. If any ANC member wants to talk to me, I will talk to them,” Dlamini Zuma said.
When it comes to the step-aside guidelines – Ramaphosa has a cloud hanging over his head regarding the Phala Phala farm scandal – Dlamini Zuma said she it was important to show exemplary leadership.
Dlamini Zuma said it was important to be transparent, have integrity, and take people into confidence, particularly the organisation.
She also said leadership was about expecting people not to do as you say, but to do as you do and to be open.
“First of all, I would have loved the president to take us as the ANC NEC into confidence, and then we take it from there. As NEC members we are completely clueless. The president did say he’ll go to the integrity committee, we are waiting for the report from the integrity committee. We’ve not received it yet,” Dlamini Zuma said.
Speaking to Independent Media yesterday, political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said Dlamini Zuma’s confidence was not the only thing that would help her win the presidential campaign.
He said the nomination of others for the position was an expression of rejection for Ramaphosa.
“These candidates are not going to win because they think they are the right candidates. Even if you are the right candidate sometimes you may have not done enough groundwork so whoever is going to win will depend on whether you were able to market yourself sufficiently to people who matter.
“What matters are the branches. So for her to say she is going to win … she must pay attention to people who matter. Branches are free to nominate whoever they want to, but I can tell you people will remember the position that DD took in 2017.”
He said that many branches see Mabuza as a betrayer because he gave the impression that he was working with Dlamini Zuma but when election time came he changed positions and many people have been angry ever since.
“But what those branches are simply saying is that they don’t want Ramaphosa as well. Most of the choices being made by branches are also an expression of the rejection of Ramaphosa,” Seepe said.
Pretoria News