ANC's money man is 'presidential material'

ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize looks set to be nominated for the ANC deputy presidency next year, but his backers are not ruling out the possibility of him throwing his hat in the ring for the top job.

With the ANC not having officially opened campaigning for its next elective conference, scheduled to be held in the Northern Cape in December next year, various groupings have already started lobbying quietly for their preferred candidates.

Supporters of ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa have earmarked Mkhize as his potential deputy if Ramaphosa succeeds Jacob Zuma as ANC leader at the conference.

They see Mkhize as vital in winning substantial support for the Ramaphosa ticket in the party's biggest electoral constituency, KwaZulu-Natal, where ANC leaders want AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to succeed her ex-husband.

But the Sunday Times has established that, while they have set their eyes on securing the ANC deputy presidency, Mkhize's campaigners in the party are not ruling out the possibility of him being nominated by party branches as a presidential candidate.

Mkhize's public profile has increased in the past year, especially since the crisis precipitated by Zuma's firing of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister and replacement with Des van Rooyen in December last year.

Mkhize was one of the ANC leaders who interacted with local business and foreign financial agencies to calm the storm.

His handling of the deliberations between the party and big business is said to have won him many supporters in the corporate sector.

Since then, he has been invited to a number of high-profile business platforms at which he has set out the party's position on key economic and political issues.

According to ANC insiders who don't want to be named, Mkhize's media team has made sure that the former KwaZulu-Natal premier remains in the public spotlight as the party's official nomination season approaches.

On Friday night, Mkhize addressed the Thebe Investment Corporation's annual awards in Johannesburg.

Last week, he spoke at a Benguela Global Investor breakfast, and in September he gave a frank assessment of the political situation at a cocktail event organised by Sanlam.

An executive in one multinational corporation said Mkhize was guaranteed business support if he was endorsed by ANC branches.

Two of the people who have been identified as being among Mkhize's campaigners are ANC activist Mmeli Sibisi and his brother Mbonisi, a programme manager of Mkhize's Ikusasa LeAfrika Foundation.

Mbonisi has a marketing background and is former organiser of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mbonisi denied he was campaigning and said people associated him with Mkhize's campaign because of his work for the foundation.

"I only work for the foundation," he said.

Mkhize's campaign is said to be run by his allies in the ANC provincial executive committee, including senior party office bearers. One of his lobbyists, who asked not to be named, said Mkhize's presidential campaign had some support in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Mkhize's Eastern Cape backers are said to have made one demand - that ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe run as his deputy.

"His name is being mentioned as president, deputy, and there are those who want him to remain treasurer-general," said a Mkhize lobbyist in KwaZulu-Natal.

"But more and more comrades want him to become president. We have the support of the business community. The business community adores him."

In the past two months, Mkhize has also addressed a series of events in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, including an OR Tambo memorial lecture in Mount Ayliff and events in Durban and Newcastle.

When Zuma addressed ANC cadres assembly in KwaDukuza last month, attacking ANC veterans who had called on him to step down, Mkhize was speaking at a "possibilities of free education" dialogue a few kilometres away at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Mkhize is chancellor of the university.

If Mkhize is indeed nominated for the ANC presidency, his name is likely to come up as a compromise candidate between Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma supporters.

One Mkhize backer said: "Nkosa-zana is Zuma's ex-wife. Cyril still has to answer for Marikana. Comrade Zweli is clean. He has no scandals."