Emerging as an early frontrunner on the ANC’s PR councillor candidate nomination list in Nelson Mandela Bay, Andile Lungisa believes this has strengthened his mayoral ambitions and warns that any attempt by national bosses to impose a candidate will be resisted.
He wants the leading PR councillor candidate to assume the mayoral chains if the party wins an outright majority or secures a coalition after the November 4 local government elections.
Historically, the ANC regional chair has typically taken up the mayoral position to avoid splitting power between the regional leadership and the metro government, particularly between Florence Matomela House and City Hall in the metro.
The ANC mayoral candidate will be jostling for control of the city against the DA’s Retief Odendaal.
The two parties hold a combined 96 seats in the council.
During the 2021 local government elections, the ANC won 37 wards and 11 PR seats while the DA won 23 wards and secured 25 PR seats.
Meanwhile, Lungisa is ahead of ANC regional chair and Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe in the party’s PR councillor candidate branch nominations.
Of the 33 branches that had convened branch general meetings as of Wednesday morning, Lungisa had received 23 nominations.
The ANC has 60 branches in the metro.
Trailing behind him are regional executive committee (REC) member Morgan Tshaka, Lobishe, councillor Noxolo Koko and REC member Nozipho Jodwana.
However, even if a majority of branches elect Lungisa, the final decision on mayoral candidates lies with national bosses.
Names are sent to Luthuli House before shortlisted candidates are interviewed.
Final approval rests with the top seven.
The names fielded by the REC in Nelson Mandela Bay are Lobishe, ANC chief whip in council Wandisile Jikeka and REC member and infrastructure and engineering political head Buyelwa Mafaya.
Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas’s name has also been circulated as a mayoral candidate.
When asked for comment on whether Jonas had been approached and whether it would be something he would even consider, his spokesperson Ranjeni Munusamy replied: “He says no to all of the above.”
While those are the names submitted by the REC, there has been intense lobbying for Lungisa, an ANC national executive committee member and former Bay councillor.
According to ANC guidelines, candidates must have no criminal record or pending NPA charges, excluding politically related matters and private prosecutions unless these have resulted in a criminal conviction.
ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson Yanga Zicina said that, according to the party’s guidelines, no-one with a criminal record was eligible to contest for nomination.
“Whether for deployment for mayor or councillor, if you have a criminal record you can’t contest, unless you’ve concluded the prescribed timelines of the Criminal Procedure Act on the expungement of your record.”
But this is not the only stumbling block for Lungisa.
On April 17 2018, he was convicted in the magistrates’ court in Gqeberha of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was sentenced to three years in prison, with one year suspended, following a 2016 incident in which he struck DA councillor Rayno Kayser with a glass jug during a council meeting.
After a series of appeals, his conviction was ultimately upheld and he began serving his sentence in September 2020 before being released early on parole in December.
Lungisa said his parole ended a month after his release.
However, this could not be verified.
Under Section 158(1) of the constitution, someone cannot stand if they have been sentenced to more than 12 months without the option of a fine for a crime.
Even then, they can only stand again after five years of finishing their sentence.
Lungisa said the branches had made their call clear, adding he had a responsibility to listen.
“I have a responsibility to remove the cotton wool from my ears and listen to the call of the ordinary people of our city.
“I’m responding to that.
“I have no issue.
“They’ve made that call loud and clear.
“I will have to respond.
“I’m closer to responding to that call but when we respond to that call there will be no interference from the province.
“There will be no interference in the form of national.”
Lungisa attributed the city’s regression in service delivery and cleanliness, along with its overall decay, to the interventions of “imposed” leaders deployed by the ANC.
“Also in this community, there is no-one who is going to be imposed.
“This is not 2016, where leaders have always been imposed on this community, which has led us to this mess.
“Day by day, I’m taking cotton wool out of my ears to respond to that call, but I know when I respond to that call it is going to be a huge battle.
“We’ll have to fight anyone who comes and imposes their own agenda on this city.
“This city is in a state of collapse because people have been imposed on this city.
“They have been brought here, not through popular demand nor with the minds and the interests of the communities.
“The only period in the city of Nelson Mandela where people had a say was when Nceba Faku became mayor.
“It was an organic process.”
ANC regional secretary Siphiwo Tshaka said about 65% of branches had successfully convened their first BGMs, adding he was happy with how they had conducted themselves.
“There’s not a bad incident where you know there have been issues in the past with challenges in fighting.
“There have been no complaints of deployees who come to meetings and try to change the narrative or outcomes of the meetings.”
Political analysts say Lungisa’s mayoral ambitions are rooted in the deep political influence he continues to wield within the ANC in the city.
Nelson Mandela University political analyst Ongama Mtimka said Lungisa had residual political capital in the city, cultivated while he served as a regional party and municipal leader.
“It’s not surprising that he emerges as popular in the processes now that he appears to have set his sights on the city as a subnational power option compared to the diminished pathways to power at a national government level,” Mtimka said.
“However, the challenges the ANC is facing electorally mean it’s no longer possible to associate leading in the party with success beyond the levers of the influence of local political elites.”
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said Lungisa was baptised in the region, which was how he rose to prominence.
“He has a direct organic link with the branches of the ANC.
“That’s why he’s able to outmanoeuvre some.
“What compounds the situation is the fact that the ANC at the local government level does not have a good history of service delivery.
“It doesn’t do any good for the ANC to have a person like him.
“I don’t think the ANC will have an upward trajectory with him at the helm.”
University of Johannesburg professor Mcebisi Ndletyana said branches had always been open to all manner of persuasions, including financial incentives.
“One doesn’t know if he’s done that but we know that he’s able to employ all ways of persuasion,” Ndletyana said.
Ndletyana said a lot stood between Lungisa and his nomination — one issue being his criminal record.
“He has a criminal record, which would mean that he’s not entirely a person of good standing.”
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