- Cyril Ramaphosa, current deputy president of South-Africa, may replace President Jacob Zuma at the next presidential election
- Ramaphosa has currently garnered more votes from ANC delegates ahead of the party’s conference in December and would emerge as flag-bearer if he maintains his lead
- Jacob Zuma would step down as president in 2019, when his 10 year rule finally comes to an end
President Jacob Zuma of South-Africa may be replaced as his nation’s highest office holder by his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, BBC reports.
The situation became apparent after over 3,000 branches of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) nominated Ramaphosa as their candidate.
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NAIJ.com gathers that the deputy president garnered 1,860 nominations, while Zuma’s ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, garnered 1,310 nominations.
Mr Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo credit: The Citizen)
The ruling party would elect its new leader and flag-bearer for the next general elections on December 16.
However, Ramaphosa still faces a huge challenge as the majority of nominations in the ANC's two biggest regions, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, are held by Ms Zuma.
These two regions are reportedly sending the most delegates to the upcoming conference.
As such, it is unclear if the deputy president will maintain his lead in the end, as bigger branches have more votes.
Jacob Zuma’s 10-year rule will come to an end in 2019; and a new leader would be elected at the general elections holding that year.
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In a related development, NAIJ.com previously reported that Emmerson Mnangagwa, former Vice President to the ex-president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, returned to the country to take up the position of president, following his former boss’s resignation after a military takeover.
Mnangagwa aka ‘The Crocodile’ had fled the country after he was fired by the former president.
Mugabe had reportedly fired his former deputy, in order to pave the way for his wife to take over the country’s leadership.
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Source: Naija.ng