Inside the ANC's quiet succession storm: Who's really positioning for 2027?

SUCCESSION talks inside the ANC are intensifying as senior figures, deputy president Paul Mashatile, Thoko Didiza, Fikile Mbalula, Ronald Lamola and Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, are increasingly touted as possible candidates to succeed President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of the party's 2027 national conference.

- SIMON MAJADIBODU AND KAMOGELO.

SENIOR ANC figures, including deputy president Paul Mashatile, Thoko Didiza, Fikile Mbalula, Ronald Lamola and Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa – are increasingly being touted as possible contenders to succeed party leader President Cyril Ramaphosa. IOL Graphics

(IOL Graphics)

The ANC insists there is no leadership battle, but the speculation has overshadowed the party's National General Council (NGC) meeting at the Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni, where officials are reviewing the organisation's performance.

Mashatile and Mbalula remain the most frequently mentioned contenders. However, Didiza, the National Assembly Speaker, has emerged as a new potential candidate with reported backing from senior leaders, including Ramaphosa.

Didiza was previously fielded as the ANC's mayoral candidate in Tshwane in 2016, but the party lost the city. Her candidacy collapsed after the party lost control of the city to the DA. Speculation that the gathering could be used to push for Ramaphosa's removal has been dismissed repeatedly by party leaders, who caution against fuelling factionalism.

The conversation about succession comes at a sensitive time. Ramaphosa's former preferred successor, Senzo Mchunu, is on special leave as a judicial commission and Parliament investigate allegations of corruption and interference in the police and justice system - accusations he denies. A judicial commission of inquiry and a parliamentary ad hoc committee are investigating alleged misconduct in the SAPS and the broader justice system.

Mchunu has stepped aside from ANC duties while the matter is under scrutiny. Another possible contender is NEC member Ronald Lamola, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.