JOHANNESBURG – Veteran politician, Mathews Phosa said he would accept a nomination in the race for the ANC presidency.

The former Mpumalanga Premier and ANC Treasurer, laid out his vision for the country on Tuesday morning.

Phosa told eNCA’s Cathy Mohlahlana a party branch in the Western Cape approached him and asked him to accept a nomination when the time comes.

READ: Ramaphosa on the campaign trail

“I’m an old member of the ANC, serving underground, everywhere, risking my life and most of my youth, I stand a real chance. The are really not nominations they are state of intentions and I must respect them,” Phosa said.

Phosa has been vocal against the President Jacob Zuma’s leadership and has made several calls for him to step down.

“There is nobody in this country that has ever diminished or devalued the ANC in this country than President Jacob Zuma,” Phosa once said, days before a motion of no confidence against the president was to be debated in Parliament in November last year. 

Phosa told eNCA at that time the ANC should politely ask Zuma to “pack his bag and leave”, saying the country was at a political crossroads.

Now, the veteran politician seems to think he stands a chance against ANC’s current deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and the former African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is said to be Zuma’s preferred candidate.

eNCA