Leadership battle could split the ANC, warns Jessie Duarte
ANC deputy secretary-general says the losing group could break away to form a new party, as has happened in the lead up to or after previous elective conferences
The ANC is at risk of further splits amid a battle for senior positions in the party, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said. There was intense jostling to replace President Jacob Zuma as the head of the party and for other top positions, despite rules forbidding active campaigning, Duarte said in an interview in Johannesburg. The concern was that the losing group could break away to form a new party, as has happened in the lead up to or after previous ANC elective conferences, she said. The ANC’s leadership contest comes at a time when the party risks losing the majority it has held in every vote since 1994. A split could drag its support down to below 50% in the 2019 national elections, giving an opportunity for the opposition to join forces to take power. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former African Union (AU) Commission chairperson and the president’s ex-wife, are seen by analysts as the main contenders to lead the ANC. "Since 2007, every AN...
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