The ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the South African economic hub of the Gauteng province on Friday announced it nominated Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to take over the leadership of the party.

The Gauteng ANC spokesperson, Dumisa Ntuli, said the decision on backing Motlanthe over the incumbent party president, Jacob Zuma, was made at its nomination conference on Thursday evening.

Gauteng is the smallest province with only 1.4 percent of the land area among the nine provinces across the country, but it is the richest province, accounting for a third of South Africa's GDP.

The province is also the most populous with a population of nearly 12.3 million as of 2011.

"The provincial nomination conference represented the democratic views and wishes of the overwhelming majority of the members of the ANC in Gauteng,"said the spokesperson.

The South African Press Association said,"Other ANC branches around the country as well as the ANC Youth League have decided to nominate Motlanthe."

However,"the deputy president has not yet indicated whether he will accept the nominations," said the report.

According to the plan, the ANC will elect the new party president during the 53rd National Conference in Mangaung on Dec. 16-20.

The ANC is currently in an alliance with the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions in ruling the country.

Given the ANC's electoral dominance, the new president of the party will be almost certain to become the next president of the country after the elections in 2014.