Yasmin Bilal
The ANC is moving closer to finalising its candidates for the 2026 Local Government Elections.
The party is holding an Extended National Executive Committee meeting in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, where it is expected to conclude the national list process before submitting its candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission.
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said the meeting marked the final stage of the process.
“This meeting represents the final stage of the National List Process before the submission of our candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission,” Mbalula said.
He said the process was about more than an administrative requirement. It focused on choosing public representatives through an inclusive and transparent process rooted in communities.
The meeting follows the launch of the ANC’s 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto at Riverside View Extension 35 in Diepsloot.
Mbalula said the ANC’s biggest opposition was voter turnout rather than other political parties.
“When you are an incumbent, people will criticise, so we must give an account of the work done and how we seek to improve; our biggest opposition is not other political parties but voter turnout,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC’s analysis showed that some voters who had stopped voting had not necessarily moved to opposition parties.
“Even in our decline, we analyse that our people have not gone to the opposition but stay away, but even the stay away must be analysed because it’s a way of our people saying correct what is wrong but we will not go and vote for other parties, correct what is wrong and we will return because the ANC is our home,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula said the party needed to account for its record and communicate the work it had done.
He said the ANC had not stopped delivering and would continue doing so.
“The ANC has not stopped delivering what needs to be delivered and will continue delivering,” Mbalula said.
He pointed to Riverside View as an example of the work he said had been done under the ANC. He said the location was deliberately chosen for the manifesto launch to showcase the development.
“Riverside is a creation of the ANC for the benefit of the people of South Africa,” Mbalula said.
He said between 4,000 and 7,000 people had been moved from Alexandra and provided with homes in Riverside View.
“When people ask what the ANC has done for the people of Alex, we moved about 4-7 thousand people from Alex and built them houses in Riverside,” Mbalula said.
He said the development included leased homes, social housing and subsidised bonded housing, with government providing substantial subsidies.
Mbalula said the ANC wanted the manifesto launch to demonstrate what it described as its development record and its approach to integrated communities.
He also rejected suggestions that the ANC had failed to deliver, saying the party needed to communicate its achievements more effectively.
The ANC’s manifesto focuses on six priorities. These include reliable basic services, jobs and investment, safer and cleaner communities, stronger municipal finances, capable and ethical municipalities, and accountable local government.
Mbalula said these priorities required leaders who understood the responsibility of serving communities.
Candidates were assessed on political understanding, integrity, competence, humility and their commitment to public service.
The selection process involved ANC branches, communities, Alliance partners and members of the public. It included Provincial List Committees, Branch General Meetings, community participation processes, consultations, assessments and verification.
“The ANC was not looking for popularity alone; we were looking for people with the ability to lead, the commitment to serve, the discipline to account and the values required to rebuild trust between communities and their representatives,” Mbalula said.
He said candidates were not chosen through individual preferences or personal ambition. Instead, the process involved the ANC’s structures and the communities they would ultimately serve.
The same approach was followed in selecting mayoral candidates, with Mbalula saying the process was designed to ensure municipalities were led by capable, ethical and committed leaders.
He said councillors also needed to understand local challenges, remain accessible and work to improve communities.
Eastern Cape
Mbalula also addressed the ANC’s situation in the Eastern Cape, where he described the party as dealing with what he called a determined and litigious force.
“The ANC will respond,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC should have been preparing for a provincial congress rather than dealing with the Provincial Executive Committee. However, he said litigation had required the party to focus on other matters.
Mbalula said the ANC remained focused on its work in the province.
Soweto
Mbalula rejected claims that the ANC had lost Soweto.
“Soweto has never left the ANC,” Mbalula said.
He said opposition parties could not claim to have taken Soweto’s wards while the ANC continued to lead them.
Mbalula attributed part of the party’s decline in support to lower voter turnout and said the ANC would campaign strongly in Soweto.
He identified infrastructure vandalism and electricity transformers as among the challenges facing the area.
Mbalula also raised Soweto’s electricity liability to Eskom. He said the liability had been reduced from about R19 billion to R7 billion and that the City of Johannesburg had since paid Eskom what it owed.
Campaign
Mbalula said the ANC would run a positive election campaign and could not assume voters would automatically support it.
“When you govern, you humble yourself, and you ask the voters for another chance to continue the good work. You don’t become arrogant and say vote for us whether you like it or not,” Mbalula said.
He said voters should be able to raise their frustrations with the party.
“The voters are the bosses,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula said ANC campaigners had visited communities where some residents initially said they would not vote. He said some had changed their minds after engaging with the party.
He also said the ANC had moved away from slogans that could make the party appear dismissive of residents’ concerns.
“We stopped those songs such as asinavalo people because we didn’t want our people to think we were oblivious to their issues or that we are arrogant,” Mbalula said.
He said the party needed to continue developing infrastructure in communities.
Mbalula also criticised DA leader Helen Zille over her views on spatial planning and accused the DA of continuing to support apartheid era spatial planning. He also criticised what he described as a lack of attention on the DA’s own manifesto.
Mbalula accused the DA of using what he called espionage tactics at the ANC’s manifesto launch.
“They took pictures in the morning thinking it’s going to be empty, but it was packed,” Mbalula said.
He said the ANC would approach the IEC if it believed the DA’s conduct went too far.
“Our campaign is positive, and we are going to win; we are not going to tell lies to our people,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula also called for municipal workers to be brought back into municipal structures.
“Let’s insource workers in the municipalities, let municipal workers work for the municipality, that’s what we want as the African National Congress,” he said.
He called for quicker action to repair municipal infrastructure, saying potholes caused by flooding and heavy rainfall should be repaired immediately.
Mbalula said municipal yellow fleets should be used properly and that officials should be held accountable.
On the manifesto, Mbalula said the ANC was focused on integration rather than amalgamation.
“The manifesto is our bible in terms of our promise to the people,” Mbalula said.
He said suggestions that the ANC was repeating old ideas failed to recognise that the manifesto was based on needs raised by communities.
The ANC Electoral Committee chairperson and former president Kgalema Motlanthe is expected to give a report on the committee’s work at the NEC meeting.
Mbalula said the ANC was confident the process would be completed within the required timelines and that its approved candidate lists would then be submitted to the IEC.
The party will take its manifesto, campaign message and selected candidates to communities across the country.
“The people have entrusted us with the responsibility to lead. We must therefore continue to earn that trust through ethical leadership, accountable governance and dedicated service,” Mbalula said.