ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has outlined sweeping changes to the ANC’s mayoral selection process, including competency-based vetting, lifestyle audits and performance agreements aimed at improving governance in municipalities.
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ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party plans to ‘headhunt’ mayoral candidates and allow communities to propose names ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
Mbalula made the remarks on Friday during a media briefing at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre.
The ANC’s top leadership convened a special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to address tensions with the South African Communist Party (SACP) following its decision to contest elections independently.
He confirmed that branch general meetings (BGMs) for the 2026 local government election candidate selection process began on April 1, 2026.
Mbalula said the branches are expected to proceed with nominations in line with party guidelines, ensuring broad participation, transparency and organisational discipline.
“To further the transformation of developmental local government, the ANC in this election is taking extraordinary steps to ensure leadership deployed to municipalities is capable, ethical, disciplined and accountable,” Mbalula said.
He said the party was reconfiguring its councillor and mayoral candidate selection processes, combining internal democracy with strategic deployment.
At councillor level, Mbalula said the ANC reaffirmed the role of branches as the basic units of democracy and community organisation.
He said candidate selection would be rooted in branch general meetings, supported by structured community engagement allowing residents to assess and express confidence in prospective ward councillors.
“This process ensures that candidates emerge not only through organisational processes, but through community legitimacy, guided by clear criteria of integrity, capability, political commitment and service to the people,” he said.
Mbalula said the party’s electoral committee, provincial list committees and vetting structures would ensure candidates met requirements including qualifications, ethical standing and organisational discipline.
He said the approach marked a break from “gatekeeping, manipulation and narrow interests”, and reaffirmed that public representatives must be both products of the movement and servants of the people.
On mayoral candidates, Mbalula said the ANC was launching a centralised, competency-based selection process for executive leadership in key municipalities.
He said the system would be coordinated through the office of the secretary-general, supported by a dedicated secretariat and working with local government intervention structures to ensure consistency across provinces.
The ANC would also embark on a national headhunting process to identify capable mayoral candidates from across society, he said.
This would include experienced public representatives, professionals, community leaders, government veterans and others with proven governance experience.
Mbalula said the party would also open a window for public submissions, allowing communities and stakeholders to propose individuals they believed were suitable for mayoral positions.
He said the process would be complemented by consultation with provincial and regional structures to ensure candidates reflected both national priorities and local conditions.
The ANC is overhauling how it selects mayoral candidates, introducing centralised oversight, stricter vetting and structured training as part of preparations for the 2026 local government elections.
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According to him, a rigorous assessment process would follow, including competency-based interviews, verification of qualifications, background checks and lifestyle audits where necessary.
“These measures are designed to ensure that candidates are not only politically grounded, but possess the technical capability, administrative competence, ethical integrity and leadership capacity required to manage complex municipalities,” he said.
Mbalula said deployment was “not an entitlement, but a responsibility”.
He said following the process, the ANC national officials will finalise and ratify mayoral candidates based on credibility, competence and governance ability.
He said selected candidates would undergo structured training, including programmes at the OR Tambo School of Leadership, and would be required to develop local programmes aligned to the ANC’s 2026 manifesto.
The process will cover eight metropolitan municipalities and 22 secondary cities.
Mbalula said all ANC mayors would be required to sign binding mayoral delivery agreements setting out performance targets, timelines and measurable outcomes, with ongoing monitoring and consequences for underperformance, including possible recalls or reconfiguration of leadership.
“This marks a decisive shift towards a culture of consequence management and delivery,” he said.
“It is not enough to deliver; the people must experience, recognise and trust that delivery is taking place.”
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