ANC desperately needs young leadership to save itself from being irrelevant: Masondo

The African National Congress NEC Member David Masondo says the governing party desperately needs vibrant and young leadership to save itself from being irrelevant.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with SABC News.

Masondo is vying for the ANC National Chairperson position in the forthcoming national conference.

He got 501 nominations for the position against Stan Mathabatha’s 1 492 followed by Gwede Mantashe at 978 nominations.

He says as much as he respects the older generation, he feels that with so many challenges they have failed the ANC and the people of this country.

ANC branches nominate the party’s NEC top six:

Meanwhile, ANC NEC member Zweli Mkhize has also called on party members who are lobbying others ahead of the National Conference in December, to make sure that after the conference there are no factions.

He says factionalism is a threat to the party’s National Executive Committee.

Mkhize has been nominated by some ANC branches to take over as party president, challenging the incumbent, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa and Mkhize nominated to contest for the position of ANC president:

He was speaking at the DH Williams Hall in Katlehong, East of Johannesburg at the Memorial Lecture of struggle icon Bertha Gxowa.

Mkhize says factions are dangerous in the ANC,  “Let’s stamp out that factionalism. You can not have an organisation at the top most, National Executive Committee level that will have groups, the lobby groups which were organized when we were going to the conference, they live long until the next conference. We’ve never had a slogan that says long live the factions here.”