Friday’s ANC Eastern Cape provincial elective congress is “up for grabs”, making it difficult to forecast which faction will emerge victorious, according to political commentators.

The three-day gathering will probably be a three-horse race between premier Oscar Mabuyane, a key ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa; public works MEC Babalo Madikizela; and legislature deputy speaker Mlibo Qoboshiyane.

The Eastern Cape, which proved pivotal in Ramaphosa’s election as ANC leader at the ruling party’s national elective congress, is the ANC’s third-largest province, behind KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The party has eight regions in the largely rural province — Nelson Mandela Bay, Dr WB Rubusana, Chris Hani, Sarah Baartman, Joe Gqabi, Amathole, Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo...