South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) began counting ballots on Monday to determine who will lead the party which has ruled since the end of apartheid but is tarnished by scandals and allegations of corruption.
The vote is perhaps the most pivotal moment for the deeply divided party since it launched Black-majority rule under Nelson Mandela’s leadership 23 years ago.
Whoever emerges at the helm of the ANC, a 105-year-old liberation movement that dominates Africa’s most-industrialised economy, is likely to become the country’s next President after elections in 2019.
Two candidates
Senior party members drew battle lines on social media, backing either Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa or Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — a former Cabinet Minister and the ex-wife of President Jacob Zuma — who are contesting the leadership.
A total of 4,776 delegates were eligible to cast their ballots in a vote that began in the early hours of Monday.
“It is going to be very close,” a senior ANC source said.
Mr. Ramaphosa, a former trade union leader who became a businessman and is now one of the richest people in South Africa, has vowed to fight corruption and revitalise the economy, a message hailed by foreign investors.
Ms. Dlamini-Zuma — the current President’s preferred candidate — has pledged to tackle the racial inequality that has persisted since the end of white-minority rule. They were the only candidates nominated for the ANC leadership at a conference in Johannesburg on Sunday night.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said all the Provinces had finished voting, except for a few stragglers who were winding up.
The party’s Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu announced on Twitter that he voted for Mr. Ramaphosa, while Police Minister Fikile Mbalula tweeted that he had cast his vote for Ms. Dlamini-Zuma. In a boost to Mr. Ramaphosa, courts ruled that officials from some Provinces seen as supporting Ms. Dlamini-Zuma had been elected illegally and were barred from the conference.
Lukhona Mnguni, Political analyst at University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the outcome of the ANC leadership contest was likely to be a managed arrangement, with discussions behind the scenes.
Mr. Zuma’s performance as head of the party has caused sharp rifts, represented by those who back him in the Dlamini-Zuma faction and those who see Mr. Ramaphosa as providing an alternative.
