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ANC leadership vote count underway

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Votes are being counted in a leadership election for South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), currently run by President Jacob Zuma.

About 5,000 delegates cast their votes in a bitterly fought race between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and ex-minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Emotions have run high, with delegates shouting each other down as they raised objections over voting rules.

The ANC has governed South Africa since it attained democracy 23 years ago.

The eventual winner will be in a strong position to become national president after elections in 2019.

But the leadership battle has caused fierce political infighting, raising fears the party may split before then.

How is the process going? 

It has not been speedy. It had been hoped a result could come on Sunday but the voting only got under way in the early hours of Monday and went on through the night.

More than 4,700 delegates are at the four-day ANC elective conference at the Expo Centre in Johannesburg and they are not just voting for a leader, but for five other top posts.

Accusations of bogus delegates being given accreditation have not helped matters.

Nevertheless, the ANC was able to confirm at about midday local time (10:00 GMT) on Monday that voting had ended and counting had begun, with a result to be announced later in the day.

Who are the candidates?

Cyril Ramaphosa is one of the country’s wealthiest men and a former leading trade unionist.

He led the talks in the 1990s to end apartheid rule, before turning to a business career.

The 65-year-old has spoken out strongly against state corruption and for re-energising the economy.

For this, he has the backing of the business community.

Party chief whip Jackson Mthembu took to Twitter to say he had voted for Mr Ramaphosa,

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, 68, is Mr Zuma’s ex-wife and has his support.

A veteran politician, she has been critical of the enduring power of white-owned businesses and has vowed to tackle what she says is continuing racial inequality.

She served as Nelson Mandela’s health minister, bringing in laws banning smoking in public areas, and later as foreign minister.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula tweeted that he had voted for her.

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