Zuma repositions himself in ANC presidential race
The president is concerned over potential collapse of conference, while markets strengthen on belief Ramaphosa will win
The tight battle for the leadership of the ANC has taken yet another unexpected turn, with President Jacob Zuma now positioning himself as a unifying force out of concern that the December conference might collapse. The change from being an explicit backer of his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s bid comes against a backdrop of unexpected strength in financial markets on the questionable assumption that the race has been all but won by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Despite the S&P Global Ratings decision last week to downgrade the local currency rating to subinvestment, or junk, status, with a stable outlook, the rand firmed to R13.6948 against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Tuesday, extending gains for the week so far to 3.2%. Moody’s has retained its local currency credit rating for now. At a meeting on Monday convened at Luthuli House, attended by all seven presidential hopefuls, provincial ANC secretaries and chairmen, Zuma said that he was concerned over the colla...
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