Gwede Mantashe says Zuma’s bid to be elected ANC chair in December is the ‘biggest joke of the year’

ANC’s national chair Gwede Mantashe has called former president Jacob Zuma’s attempt to return to politics as ‘the biggest joke of the year’.

This after Zuma announced that he is available for election as ANC national chairperson at the party’s national conference in December.

In a statement released shortly before midnight on Monday, Zuma also threw his weight behind his former wife and current ANC NEC member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ) as his preferred person to contest again for the governing party’s top position.

Responding to questions from the media at the COSATU national congress, Mantashe, who is contesting for the position of national chairperson for another term and has been endorsed by the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provincial structures, said Zuma’s bid to return to active politics was the biggest joke of the year.

“Look. President Zuma was my President for 10 years. I was his secretary for 10 years. I