South Africa’s ANC gathers to vote on new leader

Delegates of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) gathered on Sunday to choose a new party leader, pitting President Cyril Ramaphosa against former health minister Zweli Mkhize.
The winner, who will run for president under the ANC banner in elections in 2024, has been more or less guaranteed to become president in the three decades since Nelson Mandela ended white minority rule in the country.
But this is no longer a certainty as the ANC’s popularity has waned over that period and the party faces the possibility of losing its majority for the first time.
More than 4,400 delegates at the ANC’s five-day conference in Johannesburg must decide which of the two candidates is best placed to revive its fortunes. They will vote on Sunday after the ANC nominated the two candidates late on Saturday.