Thousands of members of South Africa's ruling ANC converged on the city of Polokwane Saturday on the eve of a conference that could see President Thabo Mbeki ousted as party leader.
Mbeki, who has spent eight years as head of state, goes head to head with his arch rival Jacob Zuma in what is expected to be an acrimonious five-day conference, which begins ironically on Reconciliation Day.
The incumbent is seeking a third term as leader of the African National Congress that has governed South Africa since the fall of apartheid in 1994, while Zuma will have his eye on the party's top post as a stepping stone to the state presidency after Mbeki's retirement in 2009.
The normally sleepy northern city was a hive of activity on Saturday, with a heavy police presence around the University of Limpopo where the conference is being staged.
Dozens of buses packed with delegates, some with police escorts, could be seen heading north on the road between Johannesburg and Polokwane whose hotels and guesthouses have all been booked out months in advance.
The two candidates were keeping a low profile, with Mbeki putting the finishing touches to a keynote speech on Sunday morning when the conference formally begins.
Credited with much of the success of South Africa as an emerging economy, Mbeki has been under fire in recent years for what critics say is an increasingly aloof and autocratic leadership style.
He is constitutionally barred from a third term as head of state, while the populist Zuma's situation is complicated by the fact that he may yet be charged with corruption following his financial adviser's conviction for canvassing bribes.
Yet Zuma received nearly two-thirds of nominations leading up to the five-yearly conference, which has seen Mbeki pulling out all the stops to remind the 4,075 voting delegates of his challenger's alleged sexual and financial indiscretions.
He will also have taken heart from a survey released on Saturday which showed 41 percent of South Africans think he should succeed Mbeki when the president steps down as head of state. Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was a distant second with only eight percent.
Victory for Zuma would cap a remarkable comeback for a man who was last year acquitted of raping a family friend half his age, but ridiculed for testifying he showered after consensual sex with his HIV-positive accuser to prevent infection.
"The eyes of our people and others in the rest of Africa and the rest of the world will focus on our conference, waiting patiently to hear about its results," Mbeki said Friday in a last ditch pre-conference appeal.
"They (delegates) should fully understand the great responsibility they carry on their shoulders," the president said in his weekly newsletter. "This includes the necessity properly to understand the implication of each and every decision they take, whose impact will be felt long after the 52nd national conference."
For the first time since 1949, the president is likely to be chosen in an election showdown instead of a backroom compromise, with both Mbeki and Zuma steadfastly refusing to yield.
In a bid to calm tempers, delegates have been prohibited from wearing T-shirts to the conference that depict the image of any candidate. However several Zuma supporters could be seen wearing T-shirts bearing the face of their man, with the words "JZ for president on the back."
The next party leader will be elected by secret ballot on Sunday. The result was expected to be announced on Monday.