Background:The African National Congress is Africa's oldest liberation movement and South Africa's largest political party, with almost 70 per cent of seats in parliament. About 4,000 ANC delegates will select the party's leader for the next five years at a five-day conference in Polokwane, which opens tomorrow.
The candidates
Thabo Mbeki (65) is the current party president, having succeeded Nelson Mandela in 1997. He automatically became president of South Africa two years later when Mandela retired. Because of constitutional term-limits, Mbeki must leave Union Buildings in 2009 but he will still be able to exert influence over the government if re-elected as ANC president.
Jacob Zuma, also 65, is the current ANC deputy-president. Possible compromise candidates include Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe, and Zuma's estranged wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the current minister for foreign affairs.