JOHANNESBURG – Despite making public statements about announcing mayoral candidates, the ANC has done an about turn, saying they would only announce their candidates in September.
The party was set to announce mayoral candidates on Saturday ahead of launching their election manifesto on Sunday.
In a press statement released on 19 August, the party described the announcement of mayoral candidates as a milestone.
“The African National Congress (ANC) will host two key milestones as part of its preparations for the 2026 Local Government Elections, namely the official announcement of its mayoral candidates and the launch of its 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto.
“The mayoral candidate announcement will provide an opportunity for the ANC to introduce the men and women who will carry the organisation’s mandate of building capable, accountable and responsive local government.
“The event forms part of the ANC’s commitment to presenting communities with leadership that is ready to serve, rebuild confidence and accelerate the delivery of better communities.”
On the day, however, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula arrived only to announce the names of the shortlisted candidates, the nominees.
He said the party’s campaign does not revolve around candidates and that they would only make the announcement in September.
“We have done what needed to be done in terms of interviewing everybody. We are revealing the people who have the potential to be mayoral candidates. The ANC campaign is not dependent on candidates. It is driven and dependent on the face of the campaign, who is the President.
“The add-on is the candidates, which is the decision that has been taken by the leadership and therefore in this particular instance, we are following that. We are doing it in a systematic way and that is what we are following as the African National Congress."
Leadership expert Mazwe Majola said this was a bad move.
"It is very underwhelming, very disappointing. Remember, the ANC promised the nation that they would be announcing the mayoral candidates...for them not doing that, it's got a risk of being viewed as disorganized, evasive, dilly-dallying, or even really exposing some internal divisions and dynamics within the ANC. So, it's not good for them," Majola said.
Ntsikelelo Breakfast, a political analyst, said the move was political gimmick.
Breakfast thinks this is to prevent party factions from splintering before the elections.
"I think the reason why they don't want to put forward the names of the final candidates is to avoid discouraging those who would have been omitted from mobilizing on behalf of the ANC because maybe they will be left with broken hearts.
“You don't want to escalate tensions within the ANC now. So I think it is strategic then to say that in this municipality, this is the list. Then, when the elections are over, the ANC will make the call in terms of how they're going to pick and choose.”