I refused to be Ramaphosa's deputy - Mantashe

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has revealed that he turned down lobbyists who wanted him to stand as deputy president on presidential hopeful Cyril Ramaphosa's slate.

Mantashe was addressing hundreds of ANC members at KwaNomzamo community hall in Humansdorp in Eastern Cape, where he delivered the Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture.

Mantashe said: "I told them that it is going to fail on two counts. Because the expectation for the ANC in 2017 is for Ramaphosa to have a female deputy president, the ANC won't accept [an] all-male presidency.

"Secondly, Ramaphosa and I were together in NUM [National Union of Mineworkers]. You may think people don't care about that but it will come out."

Mantashe also said he had noted that Eastern Cape members were opting to attend only those activities organised by backers of either Phumulo Masualle or Oscar Mabuyane‚ who will go head to head at the ANC provincial conference to be held in East London from August 30.

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