Panyaza Lesufi won the Gauteng ANC conference by a narrow margin, defeating his opponent Lebogang Maile.
Lesufi received 575 votes, whereas Maile received 543 votes.
For three days, the African National Congress (ANC) Gauteng elective conference dragged on as it was derailed by branch disputes which led to a court challenge and fierce debates over the credentials.
Very little time was spent discussing policies despite the Provincial Executive Committee setting a day aside just for these discussions. Instead, the outgoing provincial leadership spent most of the time trying to resolve the issue of the Ekurhuleni branch dispute, which plagued the conference.
t was a neck and neck battle between education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and cooperative governance MEC Lebohang Maile for the chairmanship.
A special National Executive Committee meeting to discuss unresolved disputes from five Ekurhuleni branches whose votes had been quarantined was held.
A proposal by the task team to resolve the matter, led by known Ramaphosa ally senior member Jeff Radebe, went as far as proposing that the Ekurhuleni region, which is dominated by the RET faction, was defeated in that meeting.
Ironically, Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha, who has publicly endorsed Ramaphosa for a second term, is said to have led the charge against such a proposal in the meeting, describing the proposal as self-serving by some senior leaders.
There were about 1 100 delegates expected to vote from five regions.