Motlanthe Accepts Nomination For ANC Presidency

South Africa’s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has accepted the nomination to challenge his boss Jacob Zuma for the presidency of the ANC, his spokesperson has confirmed.

This is after weeks of speculation in which Motlanthe had played his cards very close to his chest.

Motlanthe has the backing of only the Limpopo, Gauteng and Western Cape provinces as well as that of the ANC Youth League. So it would seem as if Zuma currently has the numbers to retain the presidency.

With three days to go before the Mangaung conference, this is a high stakes game because if he loses, it could pretty much mean he is frozen out of the leadership structures.

Unless there is something he knows that we don’t know. There had been talk that the decision to run would be made as a protest more than anything else, a statement to say things were not well within the party and by extension, the state.