At Sandton the movement named shortlisted candidates for eight metros and 44 district municipalities rather than final candidates. Johannesburg's shortlist is Dada Morero, Loyiso Masuku and Frank Chikane.
ANC Mayoral Candidates 2026 — the announcement in full
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The movement changed course at the eleventh hour on Saturday, revealing the names of shortlisted and interviewed mayoral hopefuls rather than the final candidates it had been expected to announce.
For the City of Johannesburg the shortlist is incumbent Mayor Dada Morero, Deputy Mayor Loyiso Masuku and Reverend Frank Chikane. Names were released for all eight metropolitan municipalities and 44 district municipalities. Final candidates will be announced in September.
“We have done what needed to be done in terms of interviewing everybody, and we are revealing the people who could be potential mayoral candidates,” the Secretary-General said. He said the standard had been raised: “A mayor must have certain qualities and must also have education as a base in terms of a mayoral candidate.”
Two reasons were given publicly. The first is vetting — some candidates have not completed the process, and the movement does not want to name someone before their record is confirmed clean. The second is that a candidate announcement on Saturday would have crowded out the manifesto on Sunday. National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe put it plainly: “If we select the candidates now, you will focus on the candidates and ignore the manifesto.”
Reporting in the Sunday press indicates a third consideration weighed in the decision: a concern that unsuccessful hopefuls might refuse to campaign, or defect. The President is reported to have argued that naming all shortlisted candidates and letting them prove themselves on the ground was the safer course.
Provincial convenor Panyaza Lesufi rejected the suggestion that the movement had been caught on the back foot. “The ANC works as a collective,” he said. “We are not in a beauty contest where one person elevates over others.”
The Bulletin notes the obvious counter-argument, since branches will hear it on the doorstep: every other major party named its Johannesburg candidate months ago. Whatever the internal merits of the decision, the movement will campaign for several weeks without a face on the metro poster.
President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the 2026 local government manifesto at Riverside Park, Diepsloot, conceding that “too many municipalities are failing” and committing councillors to published priorities, signed performance agreements and removal for non-delivery.
Bulletin Newsdesk
Our first edition reported that Reverend Frank Chikane had pulled out of the Johannesburg mayoral contest. The Secretary-General has since described that report as untrue, and Chikane was named among the shortlisted candidates at Sandton on Saturday.
Provincial Communications Sub-committee
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