The African National Congress (ANC) in Ekurhuleni will support Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to replace Jacob Zuma as ANC president, it said on Tuesday.

This was due to her "unwavering commitment" to radical economic transformation, regional executive committee chair Robert Mashego said.

However, the region admitted that it is yet to consult the branches that will nominate candidates ahead of the December elective conference.

Regional chairperson Mzwandile Masina defended their decision.

"What we want to emphasise is that the ANC in the region has expressed its view as the REC in order to allow the REC to go and engage the branches as well as the provincial executive committee on its view so that it must be understood," Masina said.

The committee would now discuss the matter with its 111 branches and the provincial leadership.

It said it wanted ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe to be the party’s chairperson and ANC Gauteng chair Paul Mashatile to be elected treasurer general.

Regional chair Mzwandile Masina said the decision was the outcome of two days of talks between the regional leaders.

The ANC in the province appears divided on who it wants to succeed Zuma at the party’s elective conference in December.

In June, the ANC West Rand region’s chair Boyce Maneli endorsed ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as his preferred candidate.

The West Rand ANC Youth League did the same.

The Gauteng PEC is widely expected to back deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Mashego described Dlamini-Zuma as an "organic intellectual".

"The experience is unequal. Her organic understanding of the organisation is unequalled."

Dlamini-Zuma, 68, publicly declared her candidacy in the ANC leadership battle after her term as AU Commission chairperson ended.

She has campaigned across the country in recent weeks, drumming up support ahead of the December conference.