For 30 years, the ANC has demanded voters’ trust but refuses to reveal candidates until after the vote — even when they’re clearly unfit, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.
For three decades, the ANC has expected South Africans to give it a blank cheque. The message? Just vote ANC — and don’t worry about who’s actually going to run your town or city.
And time after time, the party has betrayed that trust.
It has handed over key positions in cities and provinces to corrupt, clueless and criminal people who have run towns into the ground, loaded up debt and killed any hope of service delivery.
Take Johannesburg for instance. Nobody in the city asked for Dada Morero to be mayor. Every time his name came up, the public groaned. But because he was elected chairperson of the ANC’s Johannesburg region, he was the automatic mayoral candidate.
The ANC didn’t care if he was competent. What mattered was avoiding “two centres of power” — the idea that the mayor must not be more popular than the regional party leader.
It’s the same logic that gave us Jacob Zuma.
Zuma was deeply linked to the massive arms deal corruption scandal in the 1990s, but the ANC made him president anyway. South Africa then suffered through nine wasted years, and we’re still paying for his mess.
But instead of changing, the ANC is doubling down.
While the Democratic Alliance, ActionSA and Patriotic Alliance are already announcing mayoral candidates ahead of the 2026 local elections, the ANC is staying quiet. Again.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba is set to reveal the party’s candidate for Ekurhuleni this weekend. Dr Nasiphi Moya has already been named as the candidate for Tshwane.
Meanwhile, the ANC can’t confirm — or deny — whether Morero will continue as its pick for Johannesburg, despite a disastrous year in office.
Since taking over, Morero has plunged the city into debt. He’s signed dodgy loans with foreign lenders, while basic services continue to collapse.
Still, he remains the ANC’s favourite son.
This weekend, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has called an urgent meeting of the party’s 87-member National Executive Committee to discuss the list process. That means deciding who should stand as councillors, mayors and premiers.
“This NEC will deliberate and resolve on critical matters, finalise guidelines on the list process. This is the process of selecting candidates for local government elections,” said Mbalula.
If the ANC was serious about change, it would be upfront.
It would name its candidates for key cities — Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni and Nelson Mandela Bay — months in advance. That would allow voters and the media time to dig into their track records and ask tough questions at public meetings.
But that won’t happen.
The ANC doesn’t like public scrutiny. Candidates are often only revealed after the party has already won the vote.
Communities choose their preferred ward councillors — then the ANC imposes its own.
On paper, the ANC list process sounds solid. Candidates are nominated by branches and shortlisted using strict criteria. The party says they must have qualifications or proven experience, complete leadership modules through the OR Tambo School, and be vetted for criminal records and dodgy lifestyles.
Over 6,000 ANC councillors are in office right now. The party claims its lists are balanced for age, gender, race and community diversity. Over 50% of candidates must be women. Youth, LGBTQIA+ people, the disabled and traditional leaders are also considered.
But despite all that, the ANC keeps picking people who get accused of murder, rape, fraud and theft — while honest, capable candidates get shoved aside.
Other parties are gaining ground because they’re offering something the ANC won’t: transparency and accountability.
This week, the Democratic Alliance shocked the ruling party by snatching an ANC ward in its Mpumalanga stronghold.
It’s a warning shot.
South Africans are fed up with being kept in the dark. They want to know who they’re voting for — not just which party.
If the ANC can’t be open about who it wants to put in charge, then maybe it doesn’t deserve to be in charge at all.
Pictured above: ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula.
Image source: ANC
