Congress of South African Trade Unions leader S'dumo Dlamini‚ a known ally of President Jacob Zuma‚ on Friday outlined the qualities he wants the next leader of the African National Congress to have when Zuma's term of office as party leader comes to an end in 2017.
He was speaking as a guest speaker at the Young Communist League's third national council at the University of Johannesburg's Soweto campus on Friday. The tripartite alliance includes the ANC‚ the South African Communist Party and Cosatu. While the ANC goes to the vote for its leadership in 2017‚ Zuma's term as South African president would only expire in 2019 when general elections are held.
Dlamini‚ outlining his wish list for a new ANC president‚ said: "[That] leader must have a proven commitment to the alliance‚ commitment to fight against corruption‚ commitment to the unity of the ANC and the democratic movement [as well as] commitment to make this decade‚ a truly decade of workers and the poor and the leadership that will be rooted in or with a background in the working class movement".
"We are now convinced that comrade Cyril Ramaphosa is the one‚" he said‚ reiterating the federation's recent statement endorsing the current deputy president following its central executive committee meeting. Cosatu said during its media briefing last month that the deputy president was a tried and tested leader‚ having been a unionist within the federation.
The YCL's mother body - the SACP - hasn't announced its view on who should take over from Zuma.
The YCLSA said it respected the SAPC's decision to not pronounce on its leadership choice as yet.
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