Nkosi Mandla Zwelivelile Mandela’s ambition of becoming the next mayor of the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality has hit a snag.
Despite being touted as the ANC’s favourite to take over the reins as the new KSD mayor, Mandela will not be able to contest the position during the November 4 municipal elections.
His name does not appear in the final list of proportional representative (PR) or ward councillor candidates approved and released by the Electoral Commission (IEC) this week.
In June, it was reported that Mandela, a former ANC MP and traditional leader of the Mvezo Great Place, had emerged as a frontrunner and the ANC OR Tambo region’s first-choice candidate to take over the mayoral chain at the troubled KSD.
The region had written a lengthy motivation to the party’s provincial leadership, recommending Mandela as their preferred choice to lead the council after the elections, but it was not to be.
While Mandela said at the time that he was honoured by his mayoral nomination, on Thursday he refused to comment on the latest developments, instead referring all list-related queries to the ANC, saying he was not the one who had placed names and submitted lists to the IEC.
Mandela is not the only prominent leader in the province whose name does not appear on the list submitted and approved by the IEC.
Alfred Nzo ANC regional chair and mayor Tsileng Sobuthongo, AB Xuma municipality mayor Siyabulela Zangqa, and two mayoral candidates at Buffalo City Metro, Simphiwe Dzengwa and Nocawe Mafu, are among those whose names do not appear in their respective municipal lists.
Both Sobuthongo and Zangqa could not be reached on Thursday.
The ANC had also failed to submit on time both the ward and PR lists for the Port St Johns and Ngquza Hill municipalities, meaning the party will not contest for any seats in those two councils.
It also failed to submit before the August 28 5pm deadline the PR lists for both the Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley municipalities.
The party later approached the Electoral Court, blaming “glitches” in the IEC online registration system for its woes.
However, the court ruled against the ANC this week, a decision the party is now appealing.
ANC provincial spokesperson Yanga Zicina said the party’s hands were tied and it would have to go to the elections with the names on the IEC list, unless it won the appeal.
“The IEC processes are now closed unless the court proceedings instituted come to a different conclusion.
“If that does not occur, no further candidate may be included on the list in terms of IEC timelines.
“Whether it may be possible to alter the lists post the elections is what I am not certain of at this point.”
Asked whether the omission of such prominent names from their list would affect their campaign, Zicina said party supporters believed more in the party than individual members.
“The ANC must address these discrepancies, but our people support the ANC as an organisation, so yes they will vote.
“Even the individual leaders [affected] . . . are campaigning rigorously for the victory of their organisation.
“Their discipline is commendable as they believe in their organisation, [rather] than positions,” Zicina said.
Meanwhile, in Buffalo City Metro, the UDM, which in recent weeks lodged a serious campaign in the city, will not contest in any of the metro’s 50 wards.
This as none of their ward councillor candidates, most of whom recently defected from the ANC, had made it on time onto the final list released by the IEC on Wednesday.
The party says it will now also challenge this setback in the Electoral Court.
Only the name of their deputy president and BCM mayoral hopeful, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, appears on the UDM PR list, and none of their preferred ward candidates.
On Thursday, Kwankwa confirmed that the party would approach the court to challenge the omission of their ward candidates.
The IEC’s deputy manager for electoral operations, Masindi Mosehana, said because the lists released on Wednesday had now been frozen, no party would be allowed to add or remove any name already on the lists.
“As things stand, the lists are frozen. They are not going to change until after the elections.
“Any person who is not on the list now, is not going to be included.
“However, after the elections, if a party wins more seats than the people who are on their PR lists currently, the IEC will write to them and give them an opportunity to give us more names within two working days.
“Then, after the first sitting of council, parties can look at their candidates’ lists and revise them, and then the normal process when there is a vacancy in council, and replacement takes place, will ensue,” Mosehana said.
Earlier this week, it was reported that an internal ANC report, authored by secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, had attributed blame for the non-submission on time of some ANC Eastern Cape names to the party’s provincial secretary, Lulama Ngcukayitobi.
On Thursday, it emerged that Ngcukayitobi, who could not be reached for comment, had given Mbalula until Tuesday next week to retract the comments that his attorneys described as “false and defamatory”.
Failing which, Ngcukayitobi’s attorneys threatened legal action against Mbalula.
Daily Dispatch