Former president Kgalema Motlanthe is set to return to the ANC's national executive committee if a slate loyal to Cyril Ramaphosa succeeds.
The former ANC deputy president features high up on a consolidated list of candidates to be elected to the NEC.
Although Motlanthe has previously stated that the ANC should not recycle party leadership, the leader of his ANC branch in Houghton, Stanley Letsoalo, said that when Motlanthe was nominated by the branch, he was disciplined and could not refuse to serve the party.Above Motlanthe on the list as No1 is Deputy Agriculture Minister Bheki Cele, a Ramaphosa loyalist and campaigner.
SACP leader Blade Nzimande, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu also feature high up on the Ramaphosa list.
The list contains the names of a number of young ANC leaders, including former ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola, youth league NEC member Thembi Siweya, Limpopo MEC for sport Onicca Moloi, former youth league eThekwini chairman Jomo Sibiya and Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.
Motlanthe, Cele and Nzimande would fight for space in the NEC with those on Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's slate, such as youth league president Collen Maine, ministers Mosebenzi Zwane and Des van Rooyen, and Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association leader Kebby Maphatsoe.FINAL SAY
The NEC is the ANC's highest decision-making body between conferences and has the final say on party matters.
The NDZ slate list of NEC candidates seen by the Sunday Times has Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown at No15.
Brown has come under fire after it was alleged that at least three people close to her have links to the Gupta family - an accusation she has denied.
The Guptas reportedly assisted in the purchase of Maine's Pretoria home.
Zwane and Van Rooyen are known to be close to the Guptas, with the family allegedly having had a hand in their appointment to the cabinet.
Maphatsoe is known to be a defender of the Guptas and has been accused of having them as his benefactors.
The NDZ list also includes fraudster Carl Niehaus, who has appeared regularly on the Gupta-linked ANN7 TV station and in the New Age newspaper and is said to be Dlamini-Zuma's campaign manager...