ANC’s Andile Lungisa blames DA for Nelson Mandela Bay decline

African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committe (NEC) member, Andile Lungisa, has blamed the Democratic Alliance (DA) for the decline of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Nelson Mandela Bay is governed by a coalition led by the ANC.

ANC BLAMES DA FOR STATE OF NELSON MANDELA BAY

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday morning, Lungisa called on residents of Nelson Mandela Bay to vote for the ANC, as they did between 2000 and 2016.

Lungisa said the municipality was once regarded as one of the cleanest municipalities in the country. However, he argued that the ANC was now being blamed for the municipality’s current state, despite not being responsible for cleaning the city through the mayoral committee.

“The collapse of Nelson Mandela Bay started in 2016 and now we’re asking the people to vote for the ANC so we can go back to the old days when the city would be clean and there was water and electricity,” Lungisa said.

He added that the DA contributed to the municipality’s decline when it formed a coalition with smaller political parties.

ANC NEC member Andile Lungisa says the DA is responsible for the collapse of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Lungisa says the party stopped building low-cost housing when it led the coalition running the metro after the 2015 local government elections. Lungisa says when the ANC… pic.twitter.com/9u6rzAMdhd

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 13, 2026

ANC TO APPEAL COURT RULING ON LUNGISA

Meanwhile, the ANC says it will appeal the Johannesburg High Court ruling in favour of Andile Lungisa over his removal from the party’s proportional representation (PR) candidate list for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Lungisa reportedly appeared on the ANC’s initial candidate list but was removed from the final list submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for the 4 November local government elections. He then approached the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, arguing that his removal was unlawful. The court subsequently ruled in his favour.

In a ruling delivered on Friday, 9 October, Judge Nelisa Mali directed the ANC to restore Andile Lungisa’s name to its internal proportional representation candidate list. The party was also ordered to submit his name to the IEC, provided it is legally permitted to amend its list.