At the 11th hour, Mlibo Qoboshiyane has decided to form an alliance with Babalo Madikizela and abandon his own bid to lead the ANC in the Eastern Cape. But it is not clear whether this will derail provincial task team convener Oscar Mabuyane’s chances of re-election.

The decision by Eastern Cape provincial legislature deputy speaker Mlibo Qoboshiyane to join former ANC Eastern Cape treasurer Babalo Madikizela’s slate could weaken provincial task team convener Oscar Mabuyane’s campaign.

This is according to political analyst Mcebisi Ndletyana, who added that Qoboshiyane’s decision would lead to one of the members of Madikizela’s slate being booted out.

“It possibly means that it increased Madikizela’s numbers depending on how much support Qoboshiyane is bringing along, whether that support will be enough to surpass what Mabuyane has. If Mlibo is crossing over to Madikizela’s slate, it means that someone else has got to knock off the slate. They will have to deal with this delicately,” he said.

Qoboshiyane made the announcement late on Saturday night to delegates in the main hall of the East London International Convention Centre.

#ANCEC2022 Mlibo Qoboshiyane has joined the Babalo Madikizela faction in the last hour @mailandguardian pic.twitter.com/FX94jMnwAQ

— Tolokazi (@lizTandwa) May…