Senior ANC leaders have warned that self-inflicted controversies are weakening the party’s push to rebuild support before the 2026 municipal elections.
The issues include the promotion of former higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane, internal disputes over Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and backlash over Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s hotel shower remarks.
Concerns from party insiders across provincial and national structures suggest that decisions taken at the top are making grassroots campaigning more difficult, just as the ANC faces pressure from its setbacks in the 2024 national elections.
Party leaders caution that the ANC could lose additional seats in the Johannesburg council, which is turning into the party’s toughest battleground.
“We are expecting to decline in support by 5% in all the metros according to our internal research on the ground but these decisions and slip-ups will cost us more because the voters are watching,” a senior ANC leader said.
At the centre of the growing unease is Nkabane’s appointment as the ANC’s deputy chief whip in the national assembly, placing her at the heart of the party’s parliamentary operations despite her controversial removal from cabinet last year.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian this week, several ANC leaders said that while members welcomed qualified candidates for the position, it would be difficult to explain to voters how the decision to appoint Nkabane had been reached.
In July last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed her from her position as higher education minister amid a controversy over her handling of Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) board appointments. The appointment process drew criticism after a list of proposed appointees included politically-connected individuals, among them Buyambo Mantashe, the son of ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe.
“It will become difficult when we are asked about accountability on the ground when we campaign because people will raise these issues directly,” said a Gauteng ANC leader.
“Gone are the days when we would offer T-shirts and know that the voters would support us. They want tangible results and we fear these own-goals the leadership is making will cost us dearly at the polls, like it did in 2024.”
An ANC MP echoed the fears that Nkabane’s appointment would affect the party at the polls. “You are dealing with voters who remember these controversies. These decisions come back to [bite] us.”
Another ANC MP described the situation as “self-inflicted”.
“We are creating issues for ourselves at the wrong time. These are things we should not be dealing with heading into elections — you would think we had learnt,” the MP said.
However, a parliamentary leader who sympathised with Nkabane defended her appointment, saying the party deployed comrades based on organisational needs and experience. “One issue cannot define a person’s entire contribution,” the leader said.
But it is in Johannesburg where internal tension has escalated most sharply. Divisions within ANC structures have intensified after calls by the party’s regional executive committee (REC) to recall Morero as mayor, a move explicitly linked to the party’s electoral prospects in the metro. “We can’t co-exist,” a regional leader said. “If we are to save the ANC and prepare adequately for elections, Dada cannot continue.”
Another regional member said governance concerns had informed the move. “There are serious issues around coordination and performance. The organisation has taken a view that this situation cannot continue.”
Morero said he had not received official communication regarding the decision.
The standoff has exposed tension between regional structures and the party’s national leadership, with secretary-general Fikile Mbalula publicly rejecting the REC’s position and insisting Morero would remain in office. “There is no mayor that will be removed by the REC, let me tell you that and I’m going to meet them,” Mbalula said at a briefing at Luthuli House on Wednesday. “The mayor is there and is not going to be removed.”
His comments follow reports that the REC had resolved to remove Morero after his close ally, Stanley Itshegetseng, filed court papers challenging the outcomes of the regional conference in December last year, citing irregularities.
Mbalula said the party’s national leadership would take charge of selecting mayoral candidates before the elections, with a framework to be presented in the coming weeks.
“We will be inviting civil society to come and help us on this journey — what kind of mayor we need in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and elsewhere — as we embark on interviewing candidates,” Mbalula said.
“We have been doing it but this time around it will be done aggressively. By May, we will be announcing our mayoral candidates before we launch our campaign in June
or July.”
Mbalula dismissed suggestions that the ANC had selected a weaker candidate in Johannesburg, saying the party stood by its leadership choices.
Morero is expected to face Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba in what is shaping up to be a closely contested race for control of the city, that regional leaders have argued Morero does not “match up to”.
The developments have also renewed discussion within ANC structures about the application of the party’s step-aside rule, with some members questioning whether it has been applied consistently across different cases involving senior leaders.
“Members do raise these issues,” said a senior ANC member. “The step-aside rule only applied to certain people like comrade [Andile] Lungisa [and] Ace Magashule but there are many comrades that are embroiled in worse matters and are sitting comfortably in high positions. There is a view that the application has not been consistent.”
With internal disputes over leadership, deployments and discipline playing out publicly, some party insiders said the tension was being shaped by the ANC’s preparations for its 2027 elective conference, where key leadership positions would be contested. “Everything now feeds into 2027. These discussions are not happening in isolation,” the senior ANC member added.
In Gauteng, Lesufi has faced criticism after remarks that he too faces water cuts and “sometimes has to shower at hotels”, comments that opposition parties have seized on.
The DA has run campaign billboards across Gauteng, highlighting Lesufi’s statement as part of its messaging strategy. DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga told the M&G that the party’s campaign would continue to highlight what it described as a gap between government leadership and residents’ lived realities.
“This is not just about one comment. It reflects a broader failure to understand what people are going through on the ground,” he said.
Lesufi pointed the M&G to the apology he shared publicly when approached for comment. The ANC defended Lesufi after he issued an apology, saying it welcomed his acknowledgement of the matter.
Within ANC structures, some members said the incident had shifted attention away from campaign priorities.
“We are trying to focus on elections but these issues take over the conversation and the voters in Gauteng have expressed disdain towards us,” said a provincial leader.
“The lack of action against these incidents is alarming and we have raised it with the leadership.”
Mbalula, acknowledged that the party had to act positively or perish: “The point is that we should always remind ourselves, when we found ourselves at 40%, we had options. And we considered all options.”
Senior ANC leaders warn that controversies over Nkabane, Morero and Lesufi could cost the party crucial support in Johannesburg