ANC Greater Johannesburg deputy secretary Loyiso Masuku has by default topped the list of the party candidates’ list in the economic hub for the local government elections.
Masuku was nominated second to the late Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo has since assumed the number 1 position on the party's list of candidates for the municipal elections.
The ANC held its extended special national executive committee (NEC) meeting over the weekend to approve ward and proportional representative councillors for the upcoming local government elections, which had to be submitted to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) by on Monday.
ANC Greater Johannesburg regional secretary Dada Morero said the party had concluded all its branch nomination and community meetings on Saturday in its 135 branches but that the NEC had not yet approved its list.
The ANC has prescribed that all its nominated ward councillors be subjected to screening and approval by the communities they aspired to represent, and the community meetings have been given power to reject a candidate and appoint whoever they had confidence from among community members if they were willing to take ANC membership.
ANC regional treasurer Mpho Moerane was second on the list, in which deputy regional chair Eunice Mgcina is taking the third spot.
Masuku, Moerane and Mgcina were among the top six mayoral candidates before current mayor Jolidee Matongo won the support of both the regional, provincial and national leadership to take over the top post to succeed the late Geoff Makhubo.
Despite having been widely expected to lead the candidates list as he is expected to be the face of the party ahead of the municipal elections for Johannesburg, Matongo was on the seventh spot on the list.
Morero said the list could change after being scrutinised by the ANC national leadership.
“The list in not final because it can be changed after the national process, which we have to wait for,” Morero said.
Morero said more than 30 of the branch nomination outcomes had been disputed by aggrieved members.
“There were about 31 disputes. Most of them have been closed now except for two wards which are still outstanding,” he said.
ANC reginal administrator Nomoya Mnisi and council speaker Nonceba Molwele are taking the fourth and fifth spot respectively.
Groups of aggrieved ANC branch members from Moretele municipality in North West staged a march to Luthuli House on Sunday and accused the party’s interim provincial committee (IPC) of manipulating the list process.
One of the branch leaders, Class Mosebi, said the provincial list committee had removed current Moretele mayor Makinta Monaheng and speaker Leah Sekhaolela from the top of the list over the weekend despite them having been nominated by 22 of the 26 branches in the sub-region.
“They were replaced by friends of certain leaders in the IPC, people who were not even nominated by branches. So we are [asking] ourselves what was the need or purpose of having gone through the process,” Mosebi said.
Monaheng and Sekhaolela were among the aggrieved members who marched on Luthuli House calling for the list to be nullified.
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