Weakened and divided, S.Africa’s ANC to elect a new leader
Johannesburg, (MILLAT ONLINE):South Africa’s ruling ANC party holds a conference starting Saturday to elect its new leader in a hotly contested two-way race seen as a pivotal moment in the country’s post-apartheid history.
The winner will be well-placed to be the next president, but the ANC has lost much popularity since Nelson Mandela led it to power in the euphoric 1994 election that marked the end of white-minority rule.
Soaring unemployment and government corruption have fuelled frustration among millions of poor black South Africans who face dire housing and education and continuing racial inequality.
President Jacob Zuma, whose reign has been marred by graft scandals, will step down as ANC chief but remain national leader ahead of general elections in 2019.
Competing for the party leadership are his ex-wife, former African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman.
The battle could split the ANC party and the conference threatens to be acrimonious, forcing both candidates to issue last-minute calls for unity.
“This is a democratic process — it is not a fight amongst enemies,” Dlamini-Zuma said at her final major speech before the conference.
Ramaphosa stressed at the weekend that the party “should rally behind whoever is elected”.
Dlamini-Zuma, 68, headed the African Union until earlier this year, and is a former home, foreign and health minister.