The ANC "premier league" faction, which backs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed Jacob Zuma as president, secured a major victory when its candidate won the leadership of the party's powerful eThekwini (Durban) region. Zandile Gumede yesterday became the first woman to lead the ANC's eThekwini region. The win sets her up to become mayor after next year's local government elections.The region is the ANC's biggest and, arguably, most influential.Gumede sits on the executive committee of the metro council.In the leadership elections, at the party's regional elective conference at Moses Mabhida Stadium, she beat fierce rival and current eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo by 283 votes to one.Nxumalo and several of his supporters boycotted the election.The elections went ahead after 12 ANC ward councillors failed in their attempt on Saturday to get the Durban High Court to halt them.ANC president Jacob Zuma had attempted to broker a truce on Friday to head-off the litigation.Gumede is firmly backed by the party's provincial leadership, which was elected at a highly contested conference last month.That group, chaired by Sihle Zikalala, now the ANC's provincial leader, enjoyed wide backingfrom prominent ANC leaders, including Zuma and national treasurer Zweli Mkhize.Gumede, like the provincial leaders, also has the backing of the ANC's youth and women's leagues.The conference at which Gumede was elected was the fifth to be convened: those previously scheduled were either nullified, cancelled or postponed amid allegations of vote-buying and disputes over delegates.Zikalala, like Gumede, called for unity among members.Speaking of the legal challenge to stop the elections, Zikalala said: "Delegates to this conference must decide if they want this conference to further increase divisions or if they want to use this conference to unite."..