Riyaz Patel
The ANC says ANC Joburg region says it is waiting on the decision from the party’s provincial executive and national officials on who would be its candidate for the Johannesburg mayoral position.
The Johannesburg council is scheduled to meet Thursday to elect a new mayor following Herman Mashaba’s resignation from the the DA last month.
Geoff Makhubo, Nonceba Molwele, and Jolidee Matongo have been nominated by the ANC as candidates for the position.
The party said the name would be announced once the provincial office bearers met with their national ANC officials.
“At this stage, we are waiting for that approval and by tomorrow morning we will wake up knowing that the ANC is bringing one of its credible cadres to run the municipality of Johannesburg,” said ANC Gauteng secretary Jacob Khawe.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) nominated its candidate Funzela Ngobeni to replace Mashaba, while the Economic Freedom Fighters has fielded Musa Novela.
“Since the 2016 local government elections the ANC has been working on reconnecting with communities to better serve them. Despite the majority vote that the ANC received, we accepted the democratic process as it unfolded in council giving rise to a coalition arrangement led by the opposition,” Khawe added.
Khawe said through their engagements with Joburg residents, there was an outcry from many communities who expressed concern about the deteriorating levels of service delivery by the DA-led government.
“This was evident considering the electoral outcome of the 2019 general elections where the DA dropped from 38% in 2016 to 29 % in 2019. In that period the ANC in Joburg grew from 45% to 49%.
“It is for this reason that the ANC will be fielding a mayoral candidate who will work towards ensuring the delivery of basic services and prioritise the rescuing of the municipality from the dire financial crisis it has been plunged into,” he said.
