WATCH | The winner is Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected as ANC president at the party’s 55th national conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg.

Ramaphosa beat Zweli Mkhize with 2,476 votes to 1,897.

LISTEN | Ramaphosa has already proven he cannot save the ANC from itself 

The new ANC deputy president is Paul Mashatile.

For the position of chairperson, Gwede Mantashe won with 2,062 votes, a close call as  Stanley Mathabatha secured 2,018. David Masondo only landed 280 votes.

The new secretary-general is Fikile Mbalula with 1,692 votes.

The first deputy secretary-general is Nomvula Mokonyane (2,195 votes), beating Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s 2,145 votes.

The second deputy secretary-general is Maropene Ramokgopa, who secured 2,373 votes against Ronalda Nalumango’s 1,948.

The new treasurer-general is Gwen Ramokgopa.

Voting for the top seven highly contested positions was concluded on Sunday morning. The votes were counted manually.

Ramaphosa, who was up for re-election, was elected as ANC president in 2017 when he trumped Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in a vote. His chief rival at this weekend’s conference was former health minister and KwaZulu-Natal premier Mkhize.

Mkhize resigned from the department of health in August 2021 after he was implicated in a R150m Digital Vibes scandal which marred his political career.

TimesLIVE reported Mkhize mounted a vicious campaign to challenge the incumbent Ramaphosa, despite the former premier having been endorsed by a single province against Ramaphosa’s eight. 

A day before the conference Ramaphosa, who had been nominated by more than 2,000 branches, appeared set to return to the position, but things took a dramatic turn at the opening of the conference when Mkhize’s numbers suddenly surged upwards.

As the conference proceeded, Mkhize managed to turn some previously staunch Ramaphosa provinces to his side. 

Limpopo, the first province to endorse Ramaphosa, seemingly ditched him and opted to throw its weight behind Mkhize. The North West followed suit, so did a sizeable chunk of Gauteng, one of Ramaphosa’s strong support bases. 

Ramaphosa's camp felt shock waves on the morning of voting day when Limpopo chair Stan Mathabatha, his North West counterpart Nono Maloyi and Gauteng secretary Thembinkosi Nciza appeared at a headcount of delegates supporting Mkhize. 

Gauteng leaders said they had decided to ditch Ramaphosa after his lobbyists continued to reject their deputy president candidate Mashatile. 

The North West joined Mkhize because their political posture is identical to Gauteng. 

TimesLIVE

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