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The ANC regional executive committee (REC) in Nelson Mandela Bay has fielded three candidates for the mayoral position to the party’s top leadership.
Mayor and regional chair Babalwa Lobishe is among those nominated.
ANC chief whip in council, Wandisile Jikeka, along with REC member and infrastructure and engineering MMC Buyelwa Mafaya, have also been nominated as mayoral candidates.
According to insiders, Mafaya got the most votes from REC members and that ANC Women’s League regional secretary and REC deputy secretary Nontombi Nama was neck-and-neck with Lobishe in the nominations race.
Insiders said REC members raised concerns during Thursday’s meeting that Lobishe had appeared before the ANC’s provincial integrity committee in February over allegations linked to the municipality’s leasing of a R25m transformer to Coega Steels.
However, in March, she was cleared.
“Members raised the point that the ANC list guidelines for the 2026 local government elections clearly express that members who have pending cases with the PIC are ineligible.
“However, the mayor told the REC she had been cleared.
“However, that report has never been formally tabled to the region,” the insider said.
Another insider said the guidelines stipulated that an incumbent must be included among the names submitted.
“So with or without the REC submitting the name to the PEC for vetting, the mayor would have formed part of the mayoral candidates to be considered,” the second insider said.
While those are the names submitted by the REC, The Herald understands there has been intense lobbying for ANC national executive committee member and former Bay councillor Andile Lungisa to emerge as the party’s mayoral candidate.
Candidates must have at least a matric qualification, though this requirement may be waived in exceptional cases.
They are also required to demonstrate a proven track record of commitment to the democratic movement and/or public service.
Candidates must have no criminal record or pending NPA charges, excluding politically related matters and private prosecutions, unless these have resulted in a criminal conviction.
In a statement on Friday, ANC regional spokesperson Bamanye Matiwane confirmed the party had successfully nominated three members to form part of the preferred mayoral candidate pool.
“The REC respects the internal processes of the organisation and commits itself to accepting and upholding the outcome of these processes.
“The region will communicate the final position once all internal organisational processes have been concluded,” he said.
In a letter to provincial secretaries on Monday, ANC electoral committee chair Kgalema Motlanthe gave provinces a May 22 deadline to submit nominations for mayors, deputy mayors, speakers and chief whips.
Shortlisted candidates would be called for vetting and interviews, and the announcement of ANC mayoral candidates would be made between June and July, Motlanthe wrote.
In his memo, Motlanthe classified Nelson Mandela Bay as a “critical” municipality, which the ANC must “defend”.
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