News24 | ANC officials to decide Joburg mayoral candidate, not region – Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday reiterated that the choice of Johannesburg mayoral candidate rests with the national leaders, not the regional structures.

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• Fikile Mbalula said the ANC’s top seven national officials would decide who to put forward for Johannesburg mayor, not the regional structures.
• Deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane and Johannesburg regional secretary Sasabona Manganye had suggested that regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku be selected as the party’s choice for mayor.
• Three candidates were interviewed: incumbent Dada Morero, regional chair Loyiso Masuku, and veteran Reverend Frank Chikane.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has reiterated that the party’s national office bearers will decide who becomes its candidate for Johannesburg mayor after the 4 November local government elections, dismissing suggestions that regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku should automatically get the position.

Speaking to the media at Luthuli House on Wednesday, Mbalula made it clear that the decision rests with the ANC’s top seven national officials, not with the Greater Johannesburg region.

“The officials have been given a mandate to take a decision. If the officials decide Loyiso is the right mayor, or Dada is the right mayor, that’s the decision that will have been taken,” Mbalula said.

His comments come after ANC deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane and Johannesburg regional secretary Sasabona Manganye reportedly suggested at the wreath-laying ceremony in honour of anti-apartheid stalwart Albertina Sisulu at Newclare Cemetery that Masuku should become mayor, citing her position as regional chairperson.

The two suggested that “a woman on top” could be the best solution and further argued that previous regional chairpersons were appointed as mayors.

ANC regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku, who is one of the three candidates who were interviewed at Luthuli House by the party’s national officials earlier this year.

Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle

However, Mbalula was quick to dismiss any notion that holding the regional chair position automatically translates into the mayoral post.

“I was not there, and I don’t know in what context they were saying those things. I can only explain the principle that the mayorship issue is with the national officials, not with the region,” he said.

The ANC has been locked in internal battles over the Johannesburg mayorship, with incumbent Mayor Dada Morero facing a challenge from Masuku, who defeated him in December 2025 to become the first woman to hold the position of ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson.

The race for the mayoralty has also included veteran ANC member Reverend Frank Chikane, who was initially left off the party’s candidate list before Mbalula described the omission as an administrative error that would be rectified.

READ | ‘I had carried something heavy for seven weeks’: Mbalula back at work after court collapse

Mbalula told News24 that the exclusion of Chikane would be resolved after the election when the party amended its list through a reprieve from the Electoral Commission of South Africa.

All three candidates – Morero, Masuku and Chikane – were interviewed at Luthuli House by the ANC’s national officials earlier this year.

Chikane has emerged as the favourite for the position, but the ANC region failed to register him as a proportional representative councillor, raising concerns that the region deliberately ignored the national leadership’s instruction to do so.

Reverend Frank Chikane has emerged as the favourite for the position.

Lubabalo Lesolle/Gallo Images

The party abandoned plans to announce mayoral candidates before the election, fearing that unsuccessful contenders’ supporters might resist campaigning or sow division.

According to the ANC’s 2026 candidate selection rules, executive mayors of metropolitan municipalities were appointed “exclusively by the national officials”, a clear rejection of regional autonomy on the matter.

Mbalula’s stance was consistent with his position in March this year, when he declared the Johannesburg region’s attempt to recall Morero as mayor null and void, saying the regional leadership had no power to remove a metro mayor.

Cautioning ambition

On Wednesday, Mbalula cautioned ANC members against openly campaigning for positions before the election.

“There is everything wrong with ANC members and cadres chasing a position that you don’t know whether you will get or not. You have to convince the people about the manifesto and why it is important to vote for the ANC before a position,” he said.

He added that ANC members “have not just been cautioned; they have been pulled into line that they should focus on door-to-door [campaigning] and talking to the voter rather than talking about positions”.

Mbalula acknowledged that any of the shortlisted candidates had the capability to lead Johannesburg, but emphasised that the final decision would only be made after the election results were known.

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“Any one of those people who were raised as candidates has the potential and the capability to become a mayor in any city, and the officials will take that particular decision post the election, depending on the outcome,” he said.

The ANC currently leads a coalition government in Johannesburg, with Morero serving as mayor since August 2024, after Kabelo Gwamanda’s resignation.

Dada Morero has been serving as the Johannesburg mayor since August 2024, when he was elected following Kabelo Gwamanda’s resignation.

Storm Simpson/News24

However, the party faces significant challenges in retaining control of South Africa’s economic hub, with allegations of corruption and service delivery failures plaguing various municipalities under its watch.

Mbalula defended the ANC’s record, claiming that corruption in Johannesburg occurred during the years when the party was not in power in the City.

He claimed:

There is no single ANC political officer in the form of a mayor, former mayor, or councillor who is before the court for corruption.

However, he acknowledged that leadership must act decisively on allegations of corruption.

The ANC secretary-general expressed hope that the party would win outright control of Johannesburg in the 4 November elections, enabling it to “continue the work of cleaning up what needs to be cleaned out in terms of the City”.