Joburg Mayor Survives Axe as ANC Prolongs Choosing Election Candidates
The African National Congress delayed its announcement until late Saturday – almost till midnight – of its mayoral candidates, although the nominee for Tshwane, one of the metros the party could likely lose in the election, remains undecided. It was reported in the Sunday Times that Thoko Didiza, a cabinet minister under Thabo Mbeki who sometimes […]
The African National Congress delayed its announcement until late Saturday – almost till midnight – of its mayoral candidates, although the nominee for Tshwane, one of the metros the party could likely lose in the election, remains undecided.
It was reported in the Sunday Times that Thoko Didiza, a cabinet minister under Thabo Mbeki who sometimes chairs parliamentary debates, would be the Tshwane nominee, but the ANC said it was meeting on Sunday to select a candidate. Didiza was apparently a compromise after a selection from three other candidates could not be agreed on.
Numerous other political parties have already announced their mayoral candidates and councillors. The ANC, however, has seen clashes in various parts of the country – most recently in KwaZulu-Natal, in Mamelodi, Pretoria, and in Khayelitsa in Cape Town – apparently over the nomination process for councillors. The ANC has been accused by protesters of forcing councillors on communities that they do not want or do not know.
The ANC announced late on Saturday that Joburg mayor Parks Tau would be its nominee for the city, but that in Ekurhuleni, mayor Mondli Gungubele would be replaced by Mzwandile Masina. Recent mayoral appointee in Nelson Mandela Bay, Danny Jordaan, is the ANC’s candidate there.
Tau is reportedly not part of the pro-Zuma faction in the ANC, but has the Joburg and Gauteng ANC behind him. He is popular in many circles and has been credited with much of the turnaround in the city’s fortunes.