By Akani Nkuna
The ANC has unveiled 226 mayoral finalists ahead of the November 4 local government elections, saying the candidates were selected through a rigorous process aimed at identifying leaders with the skills, integrity and experience needed to run municipalities.
The announcement was made at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Saturday, exactly 74 days before the elections.
The ANC said the finalists were nominated by party structures and members of the public and underwent interviews and vetting.
The party said the candidates were drawn from across the country and would potentially serve in eight metropolitan and 44 district municipalities.
The ANC plans to contest all 257 municipalities, but said it would only announce its final mayoral candidates in September.
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the selection process was designed to ensure that candidates reflected South Africa’s diversity in terms of gender, demographics and age.
“Through the ANC candidate selection process, we have not simply asked who is most popular or who has served the longest. We have asked who possesses the integrity, competence, experience and commitment required to restore our municipalities and serve our communities,” Ramaphosa said.
He said the candidates should understand that being selected was not a reward.
“We have taken great care in selecting those who are nominated. We have not simply asked who is most popular or who has served the longest. We have asked who has the integrity, the competence, the experience, the commitment required to restore municipalities and to serve our communities,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the ANC had established interview panels comprising party members with the expertise to identify and assess potential candidates.
“This is the most thorough process that has been undertaken by any other party,” he said.
The selection process comes as the ANC seeks to address concerns over governance, corruption, financial mismanagement and declining service delivery in municipalities where it governs.
The party has said its candidates must be capable, literate, ethical and have the integrity required to serve communities.
Ramaphosa said those deployed to municipalities would be given clear mandates and measured against specific targets.
“The same organisation that will select those comrades will be prepared to intervene where they fail to perform. And that is now the process and system that we are going to inaugurate,” he said.
“As we watch everything on our radar screen through our evaluation process, we will be able to make interventions.”
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the finalists had been assessed on their understanding of key municipal functions, including water and sanitation, budgets, billing and legislation.
He said 123 of the 226 finalists, or 54%, were women.
“Today we reveal not a short list of final names, but the whole contingent: those shortlisted, those interviewed and those vetted,” Mbalula said.
He said the finalists ranged in age from 19 to 75, with an average age of 53.
“They are technically and educationally qualified: dozens hold master’s degrees, honours and undergraduate degrees, and several have doctorates among them,” Mbalula said.
He described the group as including technicians, public administration experts, teachers, administrators, lawyers, nurses, unionists and community builders.
The party announced the names of shortlisted mayoral applicants for the City of Johannesburg, who included Deputy Mayor Loyiso Masuku, incumbent Mayor Dada Morero and ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane.
Among the finalists in Ekurhuleni are Finance MMC Jongizizwe Dlabathi, incumbent mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, Nkunjani Phelisa and two other candidates.
The City of Tshwane finalists include Kgosi Maepa, Chana Majake, Aaron Maluleka, Tlangi Mogale, Patience Moropa and Phumeza Mangcu.
The ANC’s final mayoral candidates are expected to be announced in September.
Other notable names on the list include Mandla Mandela, a finalist for the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality in the Eastern Cape, and former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the eThekwini mayoral finalists include incumbent mayor Cyril Xaba, Nomusa Dube, Mina Som-Lesoma, Thabani Everson Nyawose and Maggie Govender.
The November 4 elections will determine the leadership of South Africa’s 257 municipalities.
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