Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has declined a request by senior ANC members, including a parliamentarian, that she contest the Johannesburg mayoral race.
The ANC in the region is struggling to find a suitable candidate to take on Democratic Alliance federal council chair Helen Zille and ActionSA president Herman Mashaba in the upcoming local government elections.
While the ANC is searching for a candidate, Mashaba and Zille have begun campaigning in a bid to win over voters before the November elections.
The party’s top leadership will be conducting interviews for prospective mayoral candidates.
Speaking to the M&G, a senior ANC member in Johannesburg said the party had approached Kubayi to stand as its mayoral candidate but she had declined.
“Imagine being a minister and they say you must go and fix a mess. Parks Tau was also approached and he declined,” they said.
The M&G reached out to Kubayi, who declined to comment.
After the ANC’s contested Joburg regional conference in December, where current chair Loyiso Masuku defeated Dada Morero, the region has been divided into two factions.
One faction, sympathetic to Morero, is seen as aligned to the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, while Masuku’s faction is viewed as closer to Deputy President Paul Mashatile.
Mbalula and Mashatile will probably vie for the party’s presidency in the 2027 elective conference.
The source said that after Tau had declined, Kubayi had been approached but had also turned down the request. “In Ekurhuleni, they want to bring back Mondli Gungubele,” the source added.
Sources close to Kubayi confirmed she had been approached but said she had declined, believing the proposal was not genuine.
A source said some in the party viewed Kubayi as a potential contender before the ANC’s 2027 elective conference.
The M&G understands Kubayi is considering a possible bid for the deputy presidency at the 2027 conference, after previously contesting the position in 2022 but failing to secure enough support.
“It’s not genuine, it’s not honest, it’s malicious and that is how she has taken it,” the source said. “This is the same province that did not see capacity in her.”
The source alleged that the push was linked to internal leadership dynamics before the next national conference.
“The group pushing this is aligned with the campaign for number two (Mashatile). These people have never supported her in anything. It was an issue where they sat in a caucus and said they were going to plant it [the idea] because they see her as a threat.
“They continue to say she is camouflaging her intentions, claiming she is contesting for deputy president while actually having her sights set on the presidency. So, to ensure she might be sidelined, they want to disrupt her by pushing her into a mayorship.”
Another source close to Kubayi questioned why some party members would want her moved from a national cabinet position to local government, arguing that capable candidates existed in the system.
They also pointed to the disparity in remuneration and status between a cabinet post and a mayoral position.
“Why would they go and elect people who can’t be mayors themselves? If they wanted to, they should have elected proper people,” the source said.
Sources close to Kubayi said the approach was not genuine but ‘malicious’ and meant to disrupt her
