John Matisonn: ANC infighting delays mayoral announcement - again

The ANC's last-minute withdrawal of its Johannesburg mayoral candidate list has laid bare deep divisions inside the party just 72 days before South Africa's local elections. Luthuli House, which favours cooperation with the Democratic Alliance, is at odds with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, while Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and his internal rival Loyiso Masuku continue to clash for influence. Shortlists released on Saturday were far larger than the agreed three names, reportedly to placate losing factions. Final candidates are now due only in September. With the DA polling near 42%, the delay leaves Johannesburg's governance, and control of South Africa's economic heartland, hanging in the balance..By John Matisonn.The ANC’s five minutes to midnight withdrawal of its promised mayoral candidate list on Saturday has exposed the slow motion train wreck inside the ANC in the face of the party’s most formidable challenge in Johannesburg and other metros just 72 days from now.The ANC had promised the candidates for mayors would be announced in May, ahead of a campaign that would be in full swing in June and July, but that deadline line was missed as the ANC sought better quality candidates and announced stricter criteria.In Gauteng, the delays pitted a Luthuli House that intends to work with the Democratic Alliance against the Gauteng leadership of premier Panyaza Lesufi, who has dug in his heels against any such cooperation.Luthuli House insisted on respected stalwart Rev. Frank Chikane for Johannesburg as a potential match for the DA’s Helen Zille, whose strong social media campaign has been at full steam for at least eight months. Within the Johannesburg ANC branch, strife continued between current mayor Dada Morero and Loyiso Masuku, who recently beat him in the party’s Johannesburg leadership race. Morero is believed to be aligned with Lesufi. As late as Wednesday last week, on August 19, an ANC statement promised the mayoral candidates’ names would be made known on Saturday. .On Saturday, a 9am media briefing was moved to 11am, but at that briefing only short lists were provided. While an instruction had gone out that short lists consist of three candidates, the lists published included six for Tshwane and eight each for Mangaung and Cape Town. eThekwini named five.Behind these names were fierce battles for the ANC’s shrinking supply of patronage posts. The Sunday Times’ Makhudu Sefara explained the manoeuvre as a way to prevent “campaign demobilisation” by the losers and to “keep the troops united, even if artificially.” The final ANC names are now scheduled to be announced in September.Meanwhile, political analysts have argued that Zille still falls short of being able to exclude the ANC or other big party from a governing coalition in Johannesburg, based on the latest opinion polls.The latest Social Research Foundation survey gives the DA about 42%.Zille’s strategy depends on a very high turnout for DA supporters against a low turnout by disgruntled former ANC supporters. To govern with only more traditional allies like the Freedom Front plus and the Inkatha Freedom party the DA probably needs to eke out another three to five percent support. That turnout figure could be decisive in deciding the outcome.On Saturday the ANC announced a plan to consider a policy change to combine Gauteng’s three metros, Johannesburg, Tshwane and eKurhuleni into a single megatropolis. The issue is to be discussed at the ANC’s national policy conference after the November local elections..Read more:.ANC set to lose about 500 councillors in November local elections.In those elections the ANC is facing a greater humiliation than even its 2016 collapse that cost it control of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.With the ANC likely to be the second biggest party in all three metros, the ANC may well be behind the DA in Gauteng, South Africa’s richest province and economic heartland.Those elections take place in 2029..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

John Matisonn: ANC infighting delays mayoral announcement - again

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