Dlamini-Zuma will defeat Ramaphosa but will ‘extend a hand’: Mahumapelo

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will be announced as the new president of the ANC in a few hours.

This was the assertion of confident North West chairperson Supra Mahumapelo, who went as far as revealing Dlamini-Zuma had been asked to extend a hand to the loser.

A conversation was also had with her competitor, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who received the highest number of nominations from ANC branches across the country.

Both hopefuls were told by provincial chairpersons – who have for months been meeting in the name of unity – that the contest must not result in unnecessary antagonism in the ANC.

Mahumapelo, who is the convener of the chairpersons forum, was not deterred by the fact that branch nominations put Ramaphosa in the lead.

“We work with precision and we are experienced in this field of politics and using ‘through the eye of the needle’ to lobby. So Comrade Nkosazana is going to be the president by tomorrow. We have already spoken to her about not being triumphalist. We have already spoken to CR too. The approach is the same – for the two to ‘extend the hand’,” he said.

Mahumapelo was so sure of a win that he watered down the disqualification of 52 delegates supporting Dlamini-Zuma, saying he “volunteered” their exclusion from participating in the conference.

“We volunteered the exclusion from voting because the numbers were just too huge for us to worry on the side of NDZ,” he said about an urgent national executive committee meeting that was convened a day after the high court in Mahikeng barred those delegates – from 32 branches in Bojanala – from attending.

The court ruling was seen as a blow to Dlamini-Zuma’s ambitions to be president.

In a last-minute attempt on Saturday to ensure the conference went ahead, the NEC decided they would attend conference merely as observers.

Mahumapelo said it was not yet uhuru (finished) for Ramaphosa.

“The analysts make a mistake. They look at nominations and say it’s now uhuru. It’s not yet uhuru until you look at every delegate … numbers are just too huge, we have verified them, we have spoken to the delegates. But we don’t want to be triumphalist, we are still humble and we are still talking to comrades to say let’s see things the same way, come to our perspective, let’s work together.”

The Dlamini-Zuma camp is also banking on what Mahumapelo described as “lingering delegates” – those who supported candidates who fell off the wagon like Zweli Mkhize, Mathews Phosa and Jeff Radebe .

“We have spoken to them to say come to the perspective of focusing on radical economic transformation and opening up the movement to everybody.”

So what is the plan after a Dlamini-Zuma victory?

Mahumapelo painted a picture of a renewed ANC which will, on a six-month basis, open itself up to public scrutiny and where the public will have a say on the most critical things that must be done.

“We want to be self-critical and for the public to assess us on the things we have been doing. We don’t want to become this enclosed organisation where people can’t comment. Those are some of the perspectives or nuances that we are going to be adopting under an NDZ presidency,” he said, eyes beaming.

Mahumapelo said he was happy the conference was going well, adding “step by step, item by item, we manage it in a very meticulous manner”.

“There are people who said that this conference was going to collapse. Others were saying we are going to throw chairs at each other, that we are going to stab each other with knives, fist fighting, credentials will not be adopted, Zuma will be booed, conference might be interdicted. None of those things happened.

“As the leadership of the ANC we rose to the occasion.”

Mahumapelo said they had had consistent discussions on how to thwart every element at the conference.

The chairpersons’ task continued even on the sidelines of the conference, where they would convene caucuses to remind delegates about discipline and to be able to accept whatever outcome.

“Those who win must not behave in a triumphalist manner. If you behave that way you become arrogant. Those who don’t make it must not abandon the conference and go home and think it is the end of the revolution. The revolution continues, but those who have made it tomorrow must work with everybody, unite the organisation.”

Mahumapelo acknowledged that conditions had gotten worse since the last two conferences of the ANC and contributed it to the belief that the ANC was going to tear itself apart this time around.

Mahumapelo said the announcement of results tomorrow will be preceded by a meeting with “the one that didn’t make it”.

“We must remain on course, conference must go on, everyone must participate in commissions, conference must come to a conclusion. Beyond conference, there is January 8, there is a need for service delivery on the ground and we must deliver, strengthen the ANC, ahead of the 2019 elections. We must start now in Nasrec,” he said.

Crucially, he added, the ideas of the loser must be incorporated into the plans of the new president, who would have the humongous task of rebuilding a weakened ANC and the country.

	Hlengiwe Nhlabathi Political journalist City Press p: +27 11 713 9001 w: www.citypress.co.za  e: Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@citypress.co.za
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