The next three days are going to determine the future of Princess Faku’s mayorship of Buffalo City, as her party in the region finally sits to elect new leadership. Faku is set to face strong contestation from a former ally and current senior manager in her office, Mbasa Satyi, to take over as ANC Dr WB Rubusana regional chair. The party is sitting for its elective conference on Wednesday after several delays since May 2025.
For Faku, losing the conference comes with the risk of losing her mayoral chain before her first term ends in 2026. This happened to her predecessor, Xola Pakati, when he fell out of favour with the regional ANC leadership led by Faku who emerged as regional chair in May 2022. The long-delayed Dr WB Rubusana ANC regional conference is now scheduled to sit between Wednesday and Friday.
The possible contestation, expected to take place late on Wednesday or on Thursday, has been confirmed by a number of party insiders. Both Faku and Satyi, once close allies, have emerged as frontrunners vying for the region’s chair seat. As battle lines are drawn, Satyi has been officially unveiled as the new face for the Imvula faction, widely associated with ANC regional task team co-ordinator Antonio Carels, which will contest Faku’s Ilanga faction.
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Satyi was once touted as a regional secretary candidate in Faku’s slate, but soon fell out of favour with his office boss, and was later replaced by Bhisho legislature MPL, Anele “Gee” Lizo in the Ilanga slate for the secretary position. While Satyi had announced his intention to contest against Carels and possibly Lizo for the regional secretary’s position, party insiders confirm that negotiations between him and the Imvula faction leaders to join forces had been ongoing.
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