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Johannesburg- Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is the bookies favourite to take the top ANC post, if online odds for him winning the ANC presidential race are anything to go by.
The online betting website sportingbet.co.za was on Saturday offering odds of 1.75 if Ramaphosa managed to clinch the top spot.
This means that if someone bet R100 on the deputy president, they’ll receive R175 from the bookies should he win during a vote at the ANC’s 54th national conference in Nasrec.
His closest rival, ANC MP Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had higher odds of 3.2 for those wanting to take a greater risk with their money.
Put R100 on Dlamini-Zuma, and if she wins punters will get R320 in return.
The odds of treasurer general Zweli Mkhize becoming party president were 6.5, meanwhile, which means if you bet R100, you’ll get R650 back.
The odds-on favourite
Other bookies had different numbers, but all that Fin24 found had Ramaphosa as the odds-on favourite.
The site bet.co.za had Dlamini-Zuma at 2, meaning you will double your money if she wins.
The rest of the pack were far behind the two frontrunners.
If Matthews Phosa somehow clinched the top spot, you will win R150 for every R1 you put down on the site bet.co.za.
Bookies also don't have much faith in outliers Lindiwe Sisulu and Jeff Radebe, with both their odds around 100.
The pair sat up on stage on Saturday, ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s political report, stony faced while delegates sang in favour of Dlamini-Zuma and Ramaphosa.
And for those who think a candidate could appear from nowhere, or Zuma could hang on for a 3rd term, the option of “none of the above” comes with odds of 8 to 1 on sportingbet.co.za.
But you can't still place bets at this late stage.
Delegates at the ANC National Conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg raise points of order about the voting arrangements ahead of the announcement of nominations (Lameez Omarjee, Fin24)
The betting period on the ANC’s next president hosted by sportingbet.co.za has now closed. Bet.co.za, meanwhile, confirmed to Fin24 that this segment was only open to customers on Friday and Saturday.
Betting on political events is common overseas, with websites offering punters the option of placing money on who will become the next UK prime minister or Conservative leader.
You can already bet on US President Donald Trump securing a second term if you like; his odds are 3.50 to 1 on the website www.unibet.com
Nominations for the top ANC positions were delayed at Nasrec on Sunday, but got underway at around 6pm.
Voting is expected to get underway on Sunday evening, so people should be able to find out exactly how much money they’ve won or lost by Monday morning.
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