Malema tips Mbalula for president

EFF leader Julius Malema has warned that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula is on course to become the party’s next president unless there is a serious intervention to stop him, and that the party's deputy president, Paul Mashatile, was still “trying to catch up”.

- SIMON MAJADIBODU

Speaking during a media briefing in Johannesburg, Malema said that without decisive action, Mbalula is going to be the party's next president.

“I warned you that there’s Mbalula. If they allow him to do what he’s doing, he's going to lead them,” Malema said.

He added that if the ANC’s succession battle were a marathon, “Mbalula is ahead, Paul (Mashatile) is trying to catch up, and I don’t know how he will get there”.

Malema’s comments come amid intensifying speculation and behind-the-scenes discussions about the ANC’s future leadership.

The party's National General Council (NGC), held this week in Ekurhuleni, further fuelled talk of an emerging succession race ahead of the ANC’s 2027 national conference.