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Zuma allies tapped to lead ANC electoral list

The main opposition the Democratic Alliance said the ANC’s list showed “once and for all – that it is not serious about fighting corruption”.

It is likely most of the candidates on the list will get positions in government or the legislature even if the 102-year-old party is expected to win this year’s vote with a reduced margin.

Generally cabinet ministers have to be lawmakers first before their appointment, although the law allows the president to pick a few non-parliamentarians.

“An ANC list is never an expression of competence or anything like that, it’s always a political decision,” said Mari Harris, the head of Ipsos South Africa.

– Hope for all –

Among those political calculations appears to be an effort to shore up the ANC’s support on the left and in the trade union movement — which has become fractured over its backing for Zuma’s government.

Senzeni Zokwana, the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers, appears alongside many members of the Communist Party, including its leader Blade Nzimande at number eight.

Although the ANC commands a vast electoral majority, it rules in a so-called tripartite coalition with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and trade union federation COSATU.

Memberships of the SACP, COSATU and the ANC often overlap and the two junior partners provide a rich vein of votes and grassroots organisation for the ruling party.

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But those calling for more liberal reforms will also take hope from the inclusion of former central bank governor Tito Mboweni, raising speculation that he might replace Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the former trade unionist who took part in the negotiations that saw the end of apartheid and then went on to become a top businessman, is Zuma’s number two on the list.

He is likely to become deputy president.

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