Youth League against Cyril for president

Cyril Ramaphosa's path to the presidency was dealt a blow this week when an ANC Youth League delegation told him the party's young guns would back Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the top job after 2017.

The league's message, conveyed to Ramaphosa during a meeting in KwaZulu-Natal, is a boost for Dlamini-Zuma because the party's young wing has traditionally been billed a "kingmaker" in ANC circles.

The league's move also raises new questions about the influence of the so-called "premier league" - comprising three premiers apparently pulling the strings behind the scenes to secure its own candidates in top positions.

The ANC has denied the existence of a premier league.

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Ramaphosa's spokesman, Ronnie Mamoepa, said he did not know if such a discussion had taken place, while league president Collen Maine refused to confirm or deny that a delegation had met the deputy president.

However, a league source confirmed the meeting, claiming that the league was eager to avoid a confrontation of the sort witnessed when Zuma replaced Thabo Mbeki in 2007.

Ramaphosa, conforming to party tradition, has not commented on suggestions that he wants to ascend to the party top spot after Zuma. But the deputy president's rise is considered a formality by many who look forward to a post-Zuma era.

A high-ranking youth league leader, who has been barred by Luthuli House from talking about succession in public, said the league's newly elected leaders had given the delegation their blessing to approach Ramaphosa.

"We are told that his response was diplomatic. He did not commit to anything the comrades raised," said the league office bearer.

The league's call on Ramaphosa to stay on as party deputy president beyond 2017 is in line with the views expressed on Friday by ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Sihle Zikalala.

"We are happy with our deputy president. We did not know there's any other view on him, if any. Woman leader or no woman leader, our stance doesn't change on him.

"We were part of the team that requested [he] serve the organisation, thus we have confidence in him as the deputy president - and that will not change," he told the Sunday Times.

Zikalala is expected to stand against KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu for the ANC provincial chairmanship next month, when an elective conference is expected to take place.

A victory for Zikalala would be a major boost for those campaigning for Dlamini-Zuma.

He is close to the youth league at provincial and national level.

KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo and chairman Thami Ngubane are said to have led the league delegation during the meeting with the deputy president.

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Sabelo confirmed he had interacted with Ramaphosa on Tuesday, but denied that they spoke about succession.

"Who are we to raise such matters with the deputy president?" he asked.

Youth league president Maine refused to confirm or deny that a delegation had been sent to the deputy president.

"As the league, we are not going to talk about succession. We will wait for the ANC itself to open up processes.

"But we are not going to be spectators. We will raise our voice and say who do we think is better positioned to lead the ANC," Maine said.

Ramaphosa was in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday to address the Freedom Charter Forum organised by the league.

Historically, the league has played kingmaker within the ANC, having been the first structure to lobby for Mbeki to succeed Nelson Mandela as party leader in the mid-1990s.

The youth league was also at the forefront of the Zuma campaign in 2007, but failed to have the president replaced by his then-deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, at the party's 2012 elective conference.