The African National Congress's (ANC's) December leadership contest is hotting up as branches name their preferred candidates and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is among the first to be nominated as party leader.

Dlamini-Zuma was nominated at an event her eThekwini Ward 32 branch hosted in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday night.

The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister said last week that she was willing to contest for the ANC presidency for a second time if she was nominated.

ANC branch general meetings (BGMs), which started over the weekend, continue this week.

National executive members Lindiwe Sisulu and Zweli Mkhize were also eager for backing.

Sisulu was in the Amathole region in the Eastern Cape over the weekend, where an ANC branch promised her a nomination in Tamara, Ngqushwa.

The branch said it was time for a woman to lead the party after men had failed to do so for 28 years, branch chairperson Phumlani Mdolomba said, according to a Daily Dispatch report.

Mkhize launched his presidential bid last week with a speech criticising ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa and his supporters. He said they were using state resources to attack opponents.

News24 reported last week that Dlamini-Zuma's nomination had the backing of former president Jacob Zuma, who also told those aligned to the party's radical economic transformation faction to support her.

Paul Mashatile, Ronald Lamola and Mmamoloko Kubayi are vying for the deputy presidency and are expected to be nominated.

After a few months of uncertainty about who will meet the threshold for nominations, the picture will become clearer in coming weeks as branches - not the party's leaders - have their say.