JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) is facing mounting legal and political scrutiny over its candidate selection process for the upcoming November 4 local government elections, highlighted by NEC member Andile Lungisa’s High Court challenge against Secretary General Fikile Mbalula. This internal dispute underscores broader constitutional failures within the party, which political analysts warn are directly fueling ongoing state crises.
At the center of the legal battle is Lungisa’s removal from the ANC’s proportional representation (PR) list for Nelson Mandela Bay. In court papers and correspondence directed at Mbalula, Lungisa asserts that the party has no justifiable reason for his removal. He maintains that he fully complied with the party’s vetting requirements and was the preferred candidate of the ANC branches in the region. Furthermore, Lungisa disputes the reliance on his previous criminal conviction, noting that the mandatory five-year disqualification period officially expired in May 2025.
Lungisa’s legal team argues that Mbalula acted outside his powers by unilaterally instructing officials to remove his name after the list had already been endorsed by the party’s structures. The matter is scheduled to be heard in the Johannesburg High Court later this month, with Lungisa also requesting that the ANC’s national officials and the National Executive Committee (NEC) review the case.
The timing of the dispute raises significant logistical concerns for the upcoming polls. Elections management practitioner and attorney Delaney warned that if the ANC fails to field ward candidates, it will also be barred from fielding PR candidates in those areas. This scenario carries serious implications for the formation of municipal councils and the stability of local governments, particularly amid intense campaigning around mayoral positions. Delaney noted that the ANC’s fallback option would be to rely on future by-elections to properly contest those wards once the current administrative cloud clears.
Despite the ANC’s claims that technical glitches prevented final candidate submissions in six municipalities, Delaney pointed out that the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) audit trail shows no system downtime. Instead, the records reveal that the party left its submissions until the final minutes.
Delaney emphasized that the IEC’s timetable will proceed uninterrupted. The commission is set to announce the final candidates for the upcoming elections on September 19. Even if the electoral court were to rule in the ANC’s favor, the IEC’s machinery has sufficient built-in time to address slight delays or issues, such as candidates submitting unclear ID copies or appearing on multiple party lists.
Political analyst Sandile Swana provided a stark assessment of the ruling party’s organizational state, stating that any party in this position must admit its administrative skills are not up to standard. Swana dismissed the notion that the ANC simply has “too many people” to vet, arguing instead that the party is paralyzed by uncontrollable factional battles.
According to Swana, the manipulation of candidate submissions up to the last minute indicates that the official selection panels did not do the final work, and that intervening processes were introduced to undermine specific candidates. He emphasized that the ANC’s tradition is rooted in collective decision-making, making Mbalula’s alleged unilateral override of an NEC-approved list highly irregular and devoid of established procedural criteria.
Swana warned that the ANC’s inability to run its internal processes according to its own constitution has dire consequences for the country. He argued that administrative corruption, fake meeting attendance, and fabricated documentation within the party inevitably translate into state governance. This systemic breakdown, Swana noted, is what leads to informal, unconstitutional arrangements in the republic, ultimately necessitating forensic investigations and commissions of inquiry such as the Madlanga and Zondo commissions.
“The whole thing is a continuing criminal enterprise that is starting in the ANC and translating itself into the state,” Swana stated. “When you vote for the ANC, you are voting for a continuation of criminality.”
While acknowledging that the ANC has been on a consistent statistical decline—dropping from 45% in the last local government elections to 40% in the subsequent national elections—Swana observed a sobering reality. He noted that a segment of the electorate still maintains an appetite for candidates with “colorful CVs,” including those with controversial backgrounds, meaning Lungisa’s situation, while damaging to the party’s cohesion, may not be entirely unprecedented in the current political landscape.
As the September 19 IEC deadline approaches, the ANC’s ability to resolve its internal disputes and present a unified, constitutionally sound candidate list remains a critical test for its electoral viability in Nelson Mandela Bay and beyond.
