Tuesday, August 02, 2016

MBEKI TO MEET WITH ANC'S GAUTENG METRO MAYORAL CANDIDATES
After meeting the EFF yesterday, Mbeki will now meet the ANC’s Gauteng metro mayoral candidates.

Thando Kubheka

JOHANNESBURG – With just 24 hours before polls open, former president Thabo Mbeki is due to meet with African National Congress (ANC) mayoral candidates this morning.

Mbeki is now going to meet the ANC’s Gauteng metro mayoral candidates - Parks Tau, Mzwandile Masina and Thoko Didiza - at 9am after he met with Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema yesterday.

It's not known when this meeting was arranged - but it appears to have been organised after that meeting with the EFF yesterday.

Meanwhile, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe is calling on party members to be disciplined tomorrow.

Mantashe says he hopes the ANC leadership will maintain its unity beyond the elections.

The ANC has been divided on a number of issues over the past month, including confusion around the reinstatement of ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman and the amount the party spent on elections.

But Mantashe says the unity of leaders is in the best interests of the party.

"We are stronger when we are together and we must maintain this momentum of unity."

Mantashe also said there were no plans to disband the Gauteng provincial executive committee after the elections regardless of the outcome.

There has been much speculation in this election about how people who voted for the ANC during the Mbeki years would vote.

That could give his meeting yesterday with the leadership of the EFF particular significance.

Malema says the party met with the former president to officially introduce him to the EFF’s leadership.
"We then introduced the EFF and what the EFF stands for and appreciated the role that the president plays in Africa."

Malema says while Mbeki said his vote is a secret, he’s hopeful he will vote for the EFF.
"Sitting here I hope we managed to convince him. He will do the right thing."

Meanwhile, the ANC says Mbeki has indicated that he’s a loyal member of the governing party, adding that he can meet anyone, including the EFF.

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