The African National Congress (ANC) has given a lifeline to several senior provincial politicians who were omitted from the final proportional representation (PR) lists released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). The party's national leadership announced that mayoral hopefuls who had been shortlisted and interviewed for mayorship positions will have their names included in the PR lists of their respective councils after the November 4 municipal elections. This decision was communicated to provinces and regions by the party's secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula.
The ANC's decision comes after a heated national working committee (NWC) meeting last week. Mbalula, in a "strictly confidential" letter to senior party bosses, dated September 26, said the door was not yet closed to all those affected party members. He stated that the party's top seven national leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, would determine the mayor, council speaker, and chief whip in each of the municipalities under the centralized list only after the election results have been announced.
Several mayoral hopefuls, including Simphiwe Dzengwa and Nocawe Mafu for the Buffalo City Metro, Andile Lungisa in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, and Nkosi Mandla Mandela for the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality, were omitted from the final PR lists. Others, such as Tsileng Sobuthongo for the Alfred Nzo district municipality, Sheila Xego for the Amathole district municipality, and Siyabulela Zangqa for the Dr AB Xuma municipality, were also missing from the lists. Despite this, they will now have a chance to be considered for mayorship positions after the elections.
Mbalula's letter emphasized that the party wants all possible mayors to focus on the party's campaign trail. He instructed them to join the campaign's final stage directly, on the ground, and in various community settings. The ANC failed to submit names of almost 200 candidates for the upcoming elections in time, including both ward councillor and PR candidates, in several municipalities.
The finalization of mayoral candidates before the November 4 elections is not a requirement by the IEC. However, the ANC's decision will allow those affected to make their way to their respective councils and be eligible for election as mayors. Dzengwa expressed his satisfaction with the NWC's clarification, stating that he and other interviewed candidates in Buffalo City Metro are still in contention for the mayorship.
Lungisa, who had taken Mbalula to court over his omission, welcomed the NWC's decision. He attributed his omission from the PR list to "politics at play." Zangqa, the current mayor of the Dr AB Xuma municipality, expressed his gratitude for the lifeline provided by the party. He is favored to regain the mayoral position.
The ANC's decision will have significant implications for the municipal elections. The party's move to include omitted mayoral hopefuls in the PR lists after the elections may influence the outcome in several municipalities. The IEC will still need to finalize the lists, but the ANC's intervention has provided a lifeline to those who were initially left out.
Key points
- The ANC has allowed mayoral hopefuls omitted from the final PR lists to join the lists after the November 4 municipal elections.
- The party's decision will enable those affected to be eligible for election as mayors.
- The move may influence the outcome in several municipalities.
