Kodwa‚ Mthembu make no secret about who they back in ANC race

ANC leaders have made the unusual move of openly stating who they voted for in the party’s leadership race.

ANC spokesman and national executive committee Zizi Kodwa declared on Twitter that he was backing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ who is up against Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the top position.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu also came out in support of Ramaphosa.

The endorsements follow a similar confidence booster from National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete on Saturday. Mbete had also campaigned to take over from President Jacob Zuma but did not garner enough votes from branches in the nine provinces.

Four provinces were still due to vote in Nasrec‚ Soweto‚ on Monday morning‚ namely the Eastern Cape‚ Gauteng‚ Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. Voting results are expected in the afternoon.

Around 4‚700 delegates are expected to make their mark.

The conference‚ which started on Saturday‚ got off to a shaky start after disputes over accreditation delayed the programme by a day.

The squabbles arose from court rulings that disqualified about 400 delegates from voting at the conference. The nomination process for the top six leadership positions finally kicked off on Sunday evening‚ but was again disrupted by complaints over how voting should proceed. After the issues were addressed‚ election officials began preparations for the ballot process to unfold. Voting started around midnight.