As meetings were held between the ANC and its Tshwane structures on Sunday, party regional secretary Paul Mojapelo said he must wait for national leadership to make an announcement on who the ANC wants to be the city’s next mayor. ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said an announcement would only be made “when everybody consults everybody”, which he could not put to a time frame, but Kodwa later said on Twitter that an announcement would be made on Monday. (A press conference was called for Monday 10:00 as this story was published – Ed)

The ANC did not name a mayoral candidate for Tshwane on Saturday night, saying the Gauteng leadership doubted the region’s suggested candidates. The Sunday Times, however, claimed MP and former minister Thoko Didiza and former mayor Gwen Ramokgopa’s names were put forward by the national ANC, with Didiza the preferred nominee. Didiza resigned as public works minister after Thabo Mbeki’s recall but now chairs the National Council of Provinces and has taken a more prominent role in the party since being elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2012.

As the ANC was unable to announce a candidate for Tshwane, it broke from tradition on Saturday night and listed mayoral candidates for metropolitan municipalities and strategic regions. Of the seven ANC-governed metros for which it announced candidates, the party plans to retain only the leaders of Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay.

Tshwane’s regional executive committee submitted three names to the Gauteng ANC provincial executive committee for mayor – Mapiti Matsena, Karin Littler and Susan Ngobeni. Current mayor and regional ANC chairperson Kgosientso Ramokgopa still has support and appeared second on Tshwane’s list of candidate councillors, but he was reported not to have been nominated by his region for mayor.

In a statement on Saturday night, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said the Gauteng PEC “was not convinced with the names submitted” and two names were taken back to Tshwane branches on Sunday for discussion.

Ramokgopa has been under pressure from the regional ANC Youth League and Alliance partners for allegations of corruption within his administration, particularly regarding a R2-billion contract the City of Tshwane awarded for prepaid electricity smart meters. Some reports suggest the division over the mayoral candidacy stems from infighting between those loyal to Ramokgopa and those backing deputy Tshwane ANC chairman Matsena, who appeared first on the region’s list for councillor posts. The region has also seen branches protest over ward candidates chosen by the party. The ANC will have to be careful that it garners wide support for its Tshwane candidate as members in the region have already shown they are willing to protest against decisions they believe have been imposed.

Democratic Alliance nominee for Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga on Sunday said the ANC’s failure to announce a candidate for Tshwane “is the surest sign yet that the ANC is deeply internally divided in Tshwane and paralysed by factionalism”. Msimanga has been campaigning continuously since being announced as the party’s candidate last year and believes the metro can be won from the ANC.

“That Mayor Sputla Ramokgopa was not the ANC’s clear choice to run for the mayor’s office, and that information points to the ANC considering deploying a heavyweight from Parliament to run for mayor, shows that the ANC fears it will lose Tshwane in this election,” he said.

In the 2014 elections, support for the ANC in Tshwane fell to 49.3%, while the DA took 33.7% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 11.5%. In the 2011 municipal elections, the ANC won 55.3% and the DA 38.6%. Msimanga pointed out that unemployment has risen under Ramokgopa’s administration, Tshwane has failed to secure a clean audit, and service delivery challenges with water and sanitation remain. According to a recent Ipsos poll, the DA could win Tshwane. The DA has faced its own claims that lists in the region have been manipulated, in its case to favour Freemasons members.

State Security Minister David Mahlobo was in Tshwane last week responding to claims that the ANC imposed a candidate for ward 87. “While you are busy making a noise here the Democratic Alliance is taking over. It will be the biggest embarrassment to lose [a] capital city‚” he was quoted as saying.

In his Saturday statement, Mantashe said the ANC’s candidates for mayoral posts were nominated on their skills, past performance, and the party’s goals of gender and youth parity. “The finalisation of mayoral candidates is the culmination of an extensive process of internal democracy, which placed at its core the wishes of our people and structures,” he said. “The ultimate objective is to ensure that the best among us is bestowed with the responsibility to lead, at whatever level, towards the fulfilment of the mandate from our people. Comrades with criminal convictions or pending cases were not considered for mayoral candidacy.” Mantashe said the nominations aren’t determined by where someone appears on a region’s list of councillor candidates.

The ANC has also allowed the Northern Cape more time to submit its suggestions for leaders of strategic municipalities.

Mayors are set to change in many of the metros where the ANC governs, but a number of the changes were expected. In Johannesburg, Mayor Parks Tau, who is reasonably popular, will run for a second term despite rumours that Connie Bapela could have become the candidate. Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Danny Jordaan is the ANC’s candidate for the hotly-contested region, the party sticking with their man deployed to turn the municipality around.

The ANC has been reluctant in the past to announce its mayoral candidates, preferring to focus on the party rather than individuals. Ahead of elections in 2011, the party said it “reaffirmed the long-standing practice of announcing the mayoral candidates after the elections. There was realisation that both the opposition and media were desperate to drag us into the terrain of focus being on the mayoral candidates than the actual campaign work done by the ANC.” In the run-up to the 2016 local elections, the DA has continually claimed that the ANC lacks transparency for delaying the announcement of its nominees.

FUTURE MAYORS: WHO THE ANC HAS PUT FORWARD

Buffalo City: Xola Pakati

Deputy Mayor Xola Pakati was a likely choice for the ANC’s Buffalo City candidate to replace Mayor Alfred Mtsi, who has only held the position for a year. Pakati is the regional chairman and it’s reported the area wanted to avoid creating two centres of power. He has served in the provincial legislature and is a former Eastern Cape secretary of Cosatu. Pakati was appointed along with Mtsi after the metro saw three mayors and six municipal managers in five years. Their predecessors were arrested on charges related to Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

Nelson Mandela Bay: Danny Jordaan

Danny Jordaan was appointed mayor in May last year to help turn around the troubled municipal administration and combat corruption. He balances his mayoral role with duties as South African Football Association president and is prominent within the ANC as an anti-apartheid activist and with the public for leading SA’s 2010 Fifa World Cup Organising Committee. While speculation remains over whether any members of that committee were involved in corruption while securing the World Cup, Jordaan is seen to have boosted the ANC’s chances in Port Elizabeth through improving the city’s finances and attempting to tackle corruption.

Mangaung: Olly Mlamleli

In 2012, Free State Premier Ace Magashule appointed Ollie Mlamleli MEC for Co-operative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements after a cabinet reshuffle. She has been chosen by the ANC to replace current Mangaung Mayor Thabo Manyoni, who also serves as chairman of the South African Local Government Association, and will face off against DA candidate James Letuka.

Cape Town: Xolani Sotashe

Xolani Sotashe serves as the ANC’s Chief Whip in the City of Cape Town and has been a strong critic of the DA government, largely on issues regarding the city’s alleged neglect of poor communities. Tony Ehrenreich, who was the one candidate the ANC did announce before the 2011 elections and leads the ANC in the Cape Town chambers, was not named in candidate lists and will reportedly devote his time to his role as Cosatu provincial secretary. Outside of the city council, Sotashe recently led the march against the #ZumaMustFall banner and has faced multiple assassination attempts, with one of his bodyguards killed outside his home in 2007 and three suspects arrested in 2002 for conspiring to kill him.

Ekurhuleni: Mzwandile Masina

ANC Ekurhuleni regional chairman Mzwandile Masina shot to prominence when the former Gauteng Film Commission head was appointed convenor of the national task team to rebuild the ANC Youth League after its leadership was disbanded in 2013. After the 2014 elections, Masina was appointed to the Cabinet as deputy minister of trade and industry. After Masina took the number one spot on Ekurhuleni’s councillor candidate list, speculation began about the likelihood he would succeed Mayor Mondli Gungubele.

Johannesburg: Parks Tau

Johannesburg ANC chairman Parks Tau will run for another term as city mayor, facing off against the DA’s Herman Mashaba. While the city’s problems are often in the public eye, Tau has been popular as a technocrat focused on improving the city, investing in infrastructure and improving Johannesburg’s finances. Tau beat Jolidee Matongo and Connie Bapela to take the nomination.

eThekwini: Zandile Gumede

When Zandile Gumede was elected regional chairwoman at the ANC’s eThekwini conference last December, which was marred by multiple delays, it appeared likely she might succeed Mayor James Nxumalo, who is also the SACP’s KwaZulu-Natal chairman. After Premier Senzo Mchunu was recently pressured to resign, there appeared little chance that Nxumalo, who is close to the former premier, would retain his post after the elections. Gumede, who is a councillor in the city, says she is ready to become mayor. DM

Photo: Danny Jordaan was confirmed as ANC’s mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay. EPA/KIM LUDBROOK.