IEC final lists expose fierce metro battles ahead of local elections

The Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) final candidate lists for the November 4 local government elections expose deepening political fragmentation across South Africa’s eight metros, with incumbents, former mayors and new political players competing to shape who governs the country’s biggest cities.

Nowhere is that fragmentation more pronounced than Johannesburg, where the ANC’s candidate list has thrown the mayoral contest into sharper focus.

ANC regional chairperson and executive deputy mayor Loyiso Masuku tops the party’s proportional representation (PR) list, followed by Musiiwa Maxwell Nedzamba, Nomoya Daphney Mnisi, incumbent mayor Sello Enoch Morero and Sibongile Eunice Mgcina.

Masuku is one of three people the ANC shortlisted for the mayoralty, alongside Morero and Reverend Frank Chikane. But Chikane, a veteran cleric and former director-general in the presidency under Thabo Mbeki, does not appear on the final PR list.

The ANC has described his omission as an administrative error, while Chikane has rejected reports that he withdrew from the race. His absence leaves Masuku and Morero as the two most prominent of the shortlisted candidates who appear in the final list.

Johannesburg’s contest extends well beyond the ANC. The DA has former leader and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate. ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba is seeking a return to the mayoralty he held from 2016 to 2019, while the EFF has selected Tlaleng Mofokeng and the MK Party Bongani Baloyi. The Patriotic Alliance has named Kenny Kunene, and the IFP Mlungisi Mabaso.

The contest in Tshwane tells a different story. Eugene Thipe Modise tops the ANC’s PR list despite not being among the party’s six mayoral contenders. Five of those contenders — Tlangi Mogale, Aaron Maluleka, Phumeza Mangcu, Kgoši Maepa and Patience Moropa — appear within the first 16 positions.

The DA is also seeking to return to the mayoralty in Tshwane after Cilliers Brink’s was voted out in 2025. The party has nominated Brink for the election, while the EFF has selected Omphile Maotwe and the MK Party Nkele Annie Matime. The IFP’s number one PR candidate is Douglas Ziyanda Zwane.

In Ekurhuleni, the ANC list reveals another internal contest between senior figures.

Jongizizwe Hansen Dlabathi is number one, followed by incumbent mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza and Pelisa Nkunjana. Ntombi Mekgwe, the fourth mayoral contender, does not appear in the supplied PR list. Dlabathi and Xhakaza are both among the ANC’s four shortlisted mayoral candidates.

That puts Dlabathi, who has emerged as a central figure in the ANC’s internal contest in the metro, at the head of the final PR list while the incumbent mayor sits third.

The EFF has put forward former speaker Nthabiseng Tshivenga, the MK Party has selected Thulani Shongwe and the IFP’s number one candidate is current councillor Desmond Mchunu.

In eThekwini, the ANC list provides the clearest alignment between its mayoral shortlist and PR ranking.

Incumbent mayor Cyril Xaba is number one on the ANC list and is also one of five people shortlisted for the mayoralty.