ANC presidential hopeful Baleka Mbete has withdrawn her candidacy for the top job and thrown her support behind Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. “We publicly endorse Comrade Cyril Ramaphosa.… We have been talking and we agree on how to approach the issues of maximising unity in the organisation,” she said speaking on the sidelines of the ANC’s 54th National Conference

The outgoing ANC national chairperson had her sights set on being the next president of the party but she did not receive enough branch votes to be nominated by a province. If she continued with her candidacy, she would have to have been nominated from the floor at the conference. Nominations for the top leadership positions are expected to take place on Sunday. The conference, however, still needs to deal with credentials and that is expected to involve a heated debate. The conference was adjourned on Saturday night after a lengthy delay to the start. Proceedings will continue at 9am on Sunday...

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