Thousands of delegates prepared Sunday to vote for the next leader of South Africa’s ruling ANC party, a vote widely seen as a decisive moment in the country’s post-apartheid politics.

Nearly 5,000 members of the African National Congress party prepared to vote in Johannesburg on a successor to party leader and President Jacob Zuma, who is stepping down amid numerous corruption scandals.

But Zuma will remain South Africa’s president before nation-wide elections in 2019.

Two figures are officially in the running to replace Zuma as leader of the African National Congress, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a party stalwart and experienced diplomat who was once married to Zuma for 16 years. But others may emerge when voting begins during the weekend.

The ANC has won a majority in every national poll since the beginning of democracy in 1994, meaning the new leader is likely to be a strong presidential candidate in 2019.
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