KEY POINTS:
POLOKWANE, South Africa, - South Africa's ruling ANC has nominated President Thabo Mbeki and his bitter rival Jacob Zuma as the sole candidates to lead the party in an election on Tuesday.
The nominations by some 4000 ANC delegates at the party's national conference in the northern town of Polokwane cleared the way for the election to take place after two days of chaotic wrangling.
The announcement also quashed speculation that a third compromise candidate would emerge to overcome deep divisions in the party over the ANC presidency.
If Zuma wins he is almost certain to become president of Africa's biggest economy when Mbeki has to stand down in 2009.
The worst rifts in the history of the previously monolithic ANC delayed the election and dismayed veterans including Nelson Mandela.
Business tycoon Tokyo Sexwale, who backs Zuma, withdrew from the race to become chairperson of the ANC, leaving the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, as the sole candidate for the post. Mbete is also a Zuma ally.
- REUTERS
