ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the ANC is working towards stabilising municipalities ahead of the elections.
Image: Itumeleng English/Independent Newspapers
While their fellow political parties have been announcing their candidacies for mayorship and ward councillors, the ANC has been tight-lipped about how its process has been faring; however, recently, an update came from the ANC’s head of elections, Mdumiseni Ntuli.
Ntuli, who is the ANC Chief Whip in Parliament, recently held a media briefing alongside ANC NEC member, Donald Selamolela, in which they addressed several matters relating to the Impeachment Committee, immigration and the scrutiny over the ANC study groups.
The Democratic Alliance will this week continue their rollout with the announcement of mayoral candidates, while RISE Mzansi, GOOD Party, and Patriotic Alliance have recently announced their candidates.
When asked how their selection processes are progressing, Ntuli said that branches of the ANC are already selecting their candidates in various parts of the country.
“I think SG (Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula) will, at some point, provide an update on the extent of the process, but I know branch general meetings are taking place, and the selection of candidates is so far going relatively well, and I think that we will meet the required deadline.
“The national officials of the ANC are also seized with the issues relating to the mayoral candidates, which is obviously not a new terrain in the ANC,” Ntuli said.
“We have, in the past, selected mayoral candidates ahead of elections, but it was just a few municipalities. Now, the process is quite involved, very detailed, because it includes a number of municipalities, unlike the way we have done before.
“I'm sure at the right time, the SG will make a public comment about how far that process has gone,” Ntuli said.
When contacted for comment, the ANC’s Mothusi Shupinyane Ka Ndaba said: “At the right time, the Secretary-General will update the media and the public on progress being registered.”
ANC Chief Whip in Parliament, Mdumiseni Ntuli (left) and ANC NEC Member, Donald Selamolela, addressed the media on matters relating to the Impeachment Committee, and several other matters.
Image: Theolin Tembo/Independent Newspapers
Ntuli added that with the IEC designating the 20th and 21st June 2026 as the first open weekend registration, the ANC Caucus will deploy all its public representatives to engage the people of South Africa, particularly the youth, to register to vote.
The local government elections are set for November 4, 2026.
“The right to vote came at a huge price and cannot be taken for granted. Unregistered South Africans must register online on the IEC website. All our parliamentary constituency offices are open daily to assist voters who wish to register but are unsure how to go about it,” Ntuli said.
Previously, ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said that the ANC’s election preparations started on the 1st of April as per their timelines.
“All branch general meetings to select ward and PR candidates (proportional representation) begin on the 1st of April to the 20th of June. On the 20th of June, we will release all our ward and PR candidates.
“There have been no delays on our side; our timelines have always been that we will start in April, and by June, all our candidates across the country will be known.”
Over the weekend, Mbalula said the party was encouraged by what he described as stability in its structures, saying “the centre is holding” as preparations continued ahead of election campaigning.
“When we see the centre holding and things being done and structures being directed on the task at hand, that is really encouraging. We are pleased by the work they are doing, and we are here to support them, and there will be many of us you will see on the ground,” he said.
Mbalula said the party had not yet officially begun campaigning for elections, but was focused on strengthening its organisational foundations and preparing for key political programmes.
“We have not started the campaign yet. We are pleased with the work we are doing in laying the foundation. We are selecting public representatives. We are preparing for our manifesto launches. So the work has been done on the ground,” he said.