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. 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. TheANCinsists 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.
