Bracing up for tomorrow’s election, one of these politicians will become South Africa’s next President, commander-in-chief of it’s armed forces for the next five years.
The African National Congress (ANC), a major political party in the country currently headed by the incumbent President Cyril Ramphosa will be looking forward to retains it majority in the nations political sphere despite the uprising of opposition parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) another major political contender and the Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) party.
Meet the candidates…
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA
Since becoming the leader of the ANC in December 2018 and further winning the general elections in 2019, Ramaphosa, Unopposed in previous election will be battling major opposition contenders in the May 29 election to be reelected for another tenure as President.
The 71 year old gained prominence during the 90’s as the Secretary general of South Africa’s biggest trade union, National Union of Mineworkers. He worked under former President Nelson Mandela and was the Chief negotiator in the negotiations that ended the apartheid.
Ramaphosa was believed to become the preferred successor of Mandela before retiring from politics in 1996.
Within the years Ramaphosa focused on his business, Shanduka Group and chairing boards such as MTN.
He returned to politics in December 2012 as deputy President of South Africa under former president Jacob Zuma from 2014-2018.
During the 54th ANC conference he was elected leader of the ANC following the corruption scandal that engulfed the government of Jacob and as president of the party he led the party to win the general election in May 2019 to become the country president.
In his five years as president he has faced many allegations such as the phala phala robbery of half a million dollars in his game farm in Limpopo leaving many to question the source of such a huge amount.
Despite the numerous challenges the ANC would rely on its popularity to get a win the elections.
JOHN STEENHUISEN
Steenhuisen was born in Durban. And has been active in politics since a young age. At 22 in 1999 he was elected as councillor in Durban North and He has held other key positions such as member of provincial council in KwaZulu Natal and a legislator in the National Assembly under the Democratic Alliance (DA) party.
He rose through the ranks to become the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) party in 2019.
Although he’s a white South African, the 48 year old will be looking to unseat the current president.
JULIUS MALEMA
Julius Malema has been active in politics since he was a child. He joined the African National Congress at a very young age and at 14 he became the chairman of his local branch before he was elected as president of the ANC youth league from 2008 to 2012.
In 2012 after facing a disciplinary panel for contravening the party constitution, he was expelled from the party bringing the party into disrepute.
In 2013 he formed his own political party called the Economic Freedom fighters, in 2014 he was elected unopposed as president. The party won 25 seats in the National Assembly in the 2014 elections. He was sworn in as member of the national assembly in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019.
The 43 year old is known for his radical style and his character has been marred with many controversies ranging from hate speech, money laundering, racketeering and many other legal issues.
With his youthful vigour Malema has captured young South Africans as quite a number of them are his followers. He hopes to rally on this support for a chance to become South Africa’s next president. (BusinessDay)
