Branches nominated me to rescue the ANC, says Zweli Mkhize

Former health minister Zweli Mkhize has reacted to making it on to the nominations list for the 55th national elective conference ballot where he will vie with current leader Cyril Ramaphosa for the position of ANC president. 

This week the party released names of candidates nominated by its 4,000 branches to contest the top six positions at its elective conference in December.

Branches endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term with more than 2,037 nominations, while Mkhize got 916 votes.

Speaking on SABC News, Mkhize said branches nominated him to rescue the ruling party from its many challenges. He said the ANC needs to be effective in addressing issues such as poverty, unemployment, rising food prices and load-shedding.

“We have been nominated by branches and we have responded to the call. The branches are feeling that there’s a need for us to do something to rescue the ANC from being a party that is deeply divided with factionalism and a party that has good policies that have not been implemented,” he said. 

Mkhize said once he is elected as president he will do away with factionalism in the party, saying a leader can't fight corruption if they are a faction. 

The former minister previously took a swipe at Ramaphosa, saying the country cannot afford “another five years of directionless leadership”. 

He said the ANC’s existence as a tool for improving the lives of South Africans is under threat.  

“Our window of opportunity to correct mistakes of the past and re-energise our movement is rapidly closing. We cannot afford another five years of deeply factionalised and directionless leadership. We must act decisively to save the ANC,” he said

Mkhize bemoaned the devastating effect of load-shedding on the economy, saying it was worsening the unemployment crisis and poverty.  

“Poverty is the mother of numerous social ills such as drug abuse, violent crimes and gender-based violence, which have been spreading unabated over the past few years. The poverty of leadership in dealing with these ills continues to condemn our people to a life of misery and indignity,” he said.