South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been re-elected leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC) at a party leadership contest.
Mr Ramaphosa was battling allegations of money laundering but defeated his rival Zweli Mkhize by 2,476 votes to 1,897.
Mr Mkhize was the health minister in Mr Ramaphosa’s government, until he was forced to resigned last year over allegations of misspending funds set aside to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
With this victory Mr. Ramaphosa is now in pole position to lead the ANC into the 2024 election.
The ANC has been in power since white-minority rule ended in 1994, and is hoping to secure a sixth term in the 2024 parliamentary election.
Last week the country’s parliament voted against starting an impeachment process against President Ramaphosa.
Lawmakers voted to reject the report by a panel of experts that found preliminary evidence Ramaphosa may have committed misconduct.
The case relates to the Phala Phala farm scandal, in which the president is accused of a cover-up when the theft of foreign currency at his private game farm took place back in 2020.
Evidence of potential misconduct after allegations that he concealed the theft of foreign currency from his game farm has fuelled calls for him to step down.
