PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s prospects of winning a second term as head of the ruling African National Congress and the country received a boost when his allies wrested control of the party in a key province from a bloc loyal to his deputy, David Mabuza.
A former premier of Mpumalanga, Mabuza helped sign up tens of thousands of new ANC members in the province, turning it into one of the party’s biggest voting blocs.
He then persuaded its branch delegates to back Ramaphosa as ANC leader at its national conference in 2017 — after initially aligning himself with a group that supported former African Union Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — a switch that helped secure the No. 2 post for himself.
The shift in power in Mpumalanga, which saw Mandla Ndlovu elected as provincial chairman, leaves Mabuza’s political future hanging in the balance and leaves the race for his position wide
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