ANC wants Tshwane mayoralty, even without outright win in 2026

The ANC in Tshwane will demand the mayoral position even if the party fails to win local government elections later this year outright but manages to secure a majority in council, its regional secretary George Matjila said.

“The position of the ANC is that where we are the majority, we must lead. In the event that the ANC does not win the elections and we are forced by circumstances to be in a coalition setup, but we have a majority vote, it means the ANC will have the mayoral position,” Matjila said.

The ANC currently holds the deputy mayor position in the City of Tshwane through its regional chairperson, Bonzo Modise, with ActionSA’s Nasiphi Moya serving as mayor.

After supporting a string of mayors from minority parties in municipalities such as Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg, the ANC resolved that in all hung municipalities where it has a majority, it would field its own mayor rather than support those from smaller coalition partners in the province.

In Tshwane, the ANC previously supported Murunwa Makwarela from the Congress of the People. In Ekurhuleni, Sivuyile Ngodwana from the African Independent Congress was replaced by the ANC’s Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, while in Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda from Al Jama-ah was replaced by ANC mayor Dada Morero.

This, however, has not happened in the capital, despite the ANC having a majority within the coalition.

Insiders within the party believe that deploying Moya as mayor could cost the ANC votes, as her popularity in the city has been steadily growing, which could benefit her party, ActionSA. There is also a view among some that Moya has been given most of the credit for the metro’s achievements, at the expense of members of the mayoral committee (MMC) .

Asked why the rule that the ANC must lead where it has a majority was not being applied in Tshwane, Matjila said the party was prioritising stability and respecting the agreement entered into before the new rule was adopted.

“We are still of the view that Tshwane is where it is because of that agreement. We are stable and we want to continue in that direction to ensure stability,” he said.

He dismissed the notion that Moya was outshining all the MMCs in the coalition, insisting that the ANC had the best-performing officials in Tshwane.

“We are comfortable with the work of our own MMCs. We are not worried about media hype and so forth,” Matjila said.

“If you want to believe that there is an individual who is better than others, for us that is not important. We still believe that our MMCs are doing well and that is why the executive mayor is shining — because of the good work the MMCs are doing.”