The African National Congress is expected to announce its mayoral candidates for Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane in the coming days, closing a protracted interview process that has run longer than the leadership intended and leaving the movement as the last major party in the field to name its candidates.

In Johannesburg the race has narrowed. Reverend Frank Chikane, nominated by the Greater Johannesburg Region as one of three recommended names, is understood to have withdrawn, leaving incumbent mayor Dada Morero and his deputy, Loyiso Masuku, as the leading contenders. In Ekurhuleni, former Gauteng speaker Ntombi Mekgwe is reported to be the frontrunner ahead of current mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza and regional secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi. In Tshwane, human settlements MMC Aaron Maluleka is understood to be the preferred candidate, with roads and transport MMC Tlangi Mogale as the alternative.

An earlier proposal to install approved candidates as mayors before the poll has been abandoned. Leaders who opposed the plan argued that handing a comrade an ailing metro with under three months to go would set that comrade up for failure rather than give them an advantage.

"Not everyone supported the idea, but we now realise that it's too late for the mayors to move the needle between now and the elections," a National Executive Committee member said of the discussion. "Now we will have to play a catch-up game."

The delay is consequential. The DA's Helen Zille, ActionSA's Herman Mashaba, the EFF's Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the PA's Kenny Kunene, the IFP's Mlungisi Mabaso, Bosa's Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster and Rise Mzansi's Lukhona Mnguni have all been campaigning in Johannesburg for months.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to launch the movement's local government manifesto at Riverside in Diepsloot. Branches across all five Gauteng regions have been instructed to mobilise attendance and to convene manifesto report-back sessions in their wards within seven days of the launch.

The Provincial Task Team has asked structures to close ranks once the announcements are made. "Whatever any comrade's preference was in the nomination process, on the day after the announcement there is one candidate and one campaign," a PTT member told the Bulletin.