The ANC’s top brass will look beyond party regional chairs in their search for metro mayoral candidates, while branch chairs will not be guaranteed a council seat after the elections later in 2026. In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane further decried the performance of the party’s cabinet ministers, saying the ANC was ready to “crack the whip” on those who are failing to communicate to the public. She praised ANC MPs for outshining ministers.
This comes as the party gears up for its annual anniversary celebrations — the January 8 statement — to be held in the North West province, a home to one of the worst-performing municipalities in the country. “The ANC has already started the process of looking beyond just members of the [national executive committee], members of the [provincial executive committees], members of the [regional executive committees], and members of the branch[es] to be the public representatives. It is looking at what is needed and the task at hand.” Mokonyane said the party’s top brass would ensure ordinary members embraced the different metro candidates.
“The ANC membership can also be good at demobilising, so you need to take on board the membership of the ANC and respect that the ANC is bigger than just the members, and that those who have the capacity may not necessarily be found in the current leadership, but can be made to work with the existing leaders. “So we’re looking at everything [and going] broader than just [considering] those who are the chair of the province, or the chair of the region, or the branch chair and branch secretary becoming the ward councillor. We have to look at what is required for this particular metro or this particular municipality.” Mokonyane said the party would widen its search for mayoral candidates to business leaders, strategic leaders in different sectors, women, and young people.
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She conceded this would not be an easy task, given that ANC members are looking to fill the roles. The process will require objectivity and commitment to the voters, instead of party members. In November, the party — which has previously named its mayoral candidates after the elections — said it would change tack this time and announce its candidates before the polls to counter opponents.
At the time, NEC members were saying the ANC would need to field “big guns” to counter the campaigns of opposition parties such as the DA, which selected political heavyweight Helen Zille as its Johannesburg candidate. There is a fear among ANC leaders that Zille and other heavyweights — including ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba and the MK Party’s Bongani Baloyi — could be major drawcards in the poll, which would work against their candidates.
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