Deputy President Jacob Zuma fancies himself as the next leader of the ANC and, by implication, the next president of the country.

Zuma entered the succession debate at the ANC's Gauteng policy conference yesterday with a poignant keynote speech in which he said: "You will never find a miracle at the national conference." This was an apparent reference to a call for a succession debate by the ANC in the Gauteng region in the build-up to the 2007 national conference.

His words were almost identical to those of ANC Youth League President, Fikile Mbalula, who said recently that "we [the ANC] are not going to have surprise leaders". And soon after the Gauteng ANC raised the succession issue, Mbalula said that if ANC traditions were to be observed, Zuma would be the next president.

Zuma's remarks yesterday also echoed sentiments he expressed during the election campaign — that, historically, the ANC's deputy president had always succeeded the president.

At the time he named many deputy presidents who had ascended to the party's presidency, but fell short of naming himself as Mbeki's likely successor.

On two occasions yesterday Zuma wanted to share party secrets with delegates, but said he was hamstrung by "the presence of our friends" — the media.

"The work [towards the national conference] begins at branches and regions," Zuma said.

He urged delegates to be guided by the ANC's traditions, programmes and challenges when approaching leadership conferences.

Zuma said he had seen some columns and editorials suggesting that the president of the country should be elected by everybody. But, he said, the ANC would elect its own president and those who wished to participate in that process should join the ANC.

"No matter how educated you are, you cannot think for the ANC," Zuma said.

He stressed the need for unity within the ANC and the strengthening of its internal structures which, he said, were "steeped in ANC traditions, with strong internal democracy, revolutionary discipline and the culture of democratic debates".

He told delegates that, only when guided by the ANC's challenges and programmes, could they decide who the best leaders were.

"You can then say who among the comrades we believe should lead in this programme. A comrade may be good at toyi-toyiing, but leading an organisation is not about toyi-toyiing.

"Don't be misled by people who say you must be so democratic as to endanger the organisation. After all, there are many interpretations of democracy," Zuma said.

In an apparent reference to lobbying for leadership positions, he said ANC members should "not go around horse trading — this organisation is not a market".

"Once the conference decides that you are not the right person, then support [whoever has been elected] and don't go around canvassing. That's destabilisation," Zuma warned.

Addressing delegates before Zuma, Gauteng Premier and ANC chairman, Mbhazima Shilowa, said "part of the mistake we make is that [we think] unity means there is no leadership contestation". But, he said, "once leadership has been decided, no one can go against it".

He warned, however, that this did not mean "we should contest just for democracy to be seen to be alive".

Shilowa told delegates the regular "changing of the guard" was inevitable, but the challenge was "how we handle these changes so that they don't become issues around which we mobilise and divide the organisation".

Saying we live in "money times", he warned people to watch out for those who stood at venue entrances during conferences saying "hold here [pointing to their pockets], don't forget me".

With acknowledgements to Xolisa Vapi and the Sunday Times.