Mbalula: ANC will only name final mayoral picks after Nov 4 elections

What the party has said and why it matters

The ANC is actively campaigning in the run-up to the elections but has opted to keep its final mayoral selections for the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities confidential until after the vote. The party completed interviews and a shortlisting process that produced a list of 42 potential candidates, but national officials will now wait for the election results before confirming who will be nominated or appointed as mayor in each metro.

This approach places emphasis on electoral performance: as Mbalula put it, “There’s nothing wrong with people having ambitions to become mayor, to be considered, but it starts first by winning. By winning a vote.” By tying the mayoral decision to the election outcome, the ANC is signalling that candidate choices will reflect the political landscape that emerges after voters decide on November 4.

Shortlists already compiled

The party’s earlier process produced a shortlist of 42 names across the eight metropolitan municipalities. Among those named on shortlists were established figures and sitting officeholders. The list for Johannesburg included mayor Dada Morero, regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku and ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane. For eThekwini, the shortlists named incumbent mayor Cyril Xaba, deputy mayor Thabani Nyawose and former KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

Mbalula confirmed the party had finished interviews and the internal shortlisting exercise, but stressed that those names are not finalised choices.

“We have interviewed people. We’re done. We’ve shortlisted and then that is it,”

he said, adding that national officials would take the final decisions after the elections depending on the outcome.

National officials, not regions, will decide

The ANC secretary-general made clear that the authority to determine mayoral candidates rests with national officials rather than regional structures.

“The mayorship issue is with the national officials. It’s not with the region. Region has submitted,”

he said, explaining that regional submissions and the national shortlist are inputs to a post-election decision-making process.

Mbalula used Johannesburg as an example of how that decision could play out, saying national officials would determine which shortlisted figure is the right choice for the city.

“If the officials decide Loyiso Masuku or Chikane is the right mayor, that’s the decision. That would have been taken,”

he said.

Warning against pre-election jockeying

Beyond the procedural explanation, Mbalula issued a direct admonition to ANC members against campaigning internally for positions before the electorate has been persuaded. He warned that prioritising ambition over voter engagement undermines the party’s campaign. In his words:

“There is everything wrong for an ANC member and cadre to chase a position that you don’t know whether you will get or not get. You have to convince the people about the manifesto and why it is important to vote for the ANC before a position.”

He said party members were being instructed to concentrate on door-to-door campaigning and engaging voters on the ANC’s manifesto rather than lobbying for specific mayoral posts. This underscores a tactical focus on voter persuasion in the final stretch of the campaign.

On reported internal remarks

Mbalula also declined to comment on reports that ANC members had spoken publicly about preferred mayoral candidates, saying he had not been present when those remarks were made and did not know the context in which they were uttered.

“I was not there, and I don’t know comrades were saying those things in what context. And I don’t want to comment on things that I did not hear,”

he said.

What happens next

With the shortlist complete and interviews carried out, the next stage the ANC has set is clear: await the November 4 election result and have national officials determine final mayoral choices in the light of that outcome. Until then, the party’s public-facing priority is persuading voters to back its manifesto and getting campaign activity on the ground.

Why parties sometimes delay candidate announcements

Parties may withhold final candidate lists until after elections for several practical reasons: to preserve negotiating flexibility, to respond to voter preferences revealed by the ballot, and to avoid internal divisions during intensive campaigning. Those are general considerations and are offered here only as background context to help readers understand why a national leadership might choose to finalise appointments after an election rather than before it.

The ANC will not reveal its final mayoral picks for the eight metros before November 4. The party has completed interviews, produced a 42-name shortlist and left the ultimate selection to national officials, who will act after the election depending on the outcome. In the meantime, the party’s leadership is urging members to stay focused on door-to-door campaigning and convincing voters to support the ANC manifesto.