There are now six candidates contesting the ANC presidency, but it is critical to separate the wheat from the chaff. With all the inherent complexity in the ANC’s succession politics in 2017, the battle will still boil down to numbers: who has the largest constituency and the most branches backing his or her presidential bid.
It then becomes easy to see that Jeff Radebe, Lindiwe Sisulu, Mathews Phosa and Baleka Mbete are simply distractions in the broader scheme of things.
None boasts a clear constituency or could muster the branch support required to win a party election. Sisulu’s campaign slogan, "It’s a must", could very well have disqualified her from the race for all its pompous pretence.