The African National Congress (ANC) is heading into South Africa’s 4th of November, 2026 local government elections engulfed in internal disputes over candidate lists, regional power blocs and mayoral selections, with insiders warning that factionalism could cost the party crucial votes.
At the heart of the crisis is the ANC’s failure to submit complete candidate lists to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) by the 28th of August deadline, leaving hundreds of aspirants across the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal off the rolls and triggering a wave of legal challenges and public recriminations. The party blames technical glitches in the IEC’s electronic system; the IEC disputes this and has refused extensions.
The fallout has quickly moved into the courts. The ANC has approached the Electoral Court to challenge the IEC’s exclusion of its candidates in six municipalities, arguing it did not miss the deadline and that system problems prevented timely submissions. Separately, individual members are suing the party over their removal from lists.
One of the most high-profile disputes involves NEC member Andile Lungisa, who has taken the ANC to the Gauteng High Court after his name was omitted from the party’s proportional-representation councillor list for Nelson Mandela Bay. Lungisa alleges that Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula personally ordered his removal despite him meeting all requirements. Mbalula has dismissed the claims, saying Lungisa should have raised concerns directly rather than through lawyers.
The list blunder has placed Mbalula under mounting pressure from within the ANC’s own leadership. Several National Executive Committee (NEC) members are reportedly demanding answers over omissions that could hurt the party’s prospects in key municipalities. Mbalula has rejected calls for his resignation, insisting any decision on his position rests with the party as it works to resolve the disputes.
Critics inside the NEC say regional and provincial leaders were allowed to amend candidate lists after they had been approved at national level, creating confusion and opening the door to factional manipulation. The controversy has exposed tensions between national, provincial and regional structures, with powerful local blocs increasingly willing to defy the party centre.
Beyond individual cases, the ANC’s list process has highlighted deeper structural problems. Emergency NEC meetings were held to address unresolved procedural failures, widespread gender-parity breaches, weak branch structures and the treatment of candidates who had won support in community meetings but were later dropped after branch general meetings.
Party insiders fear that disgruntled members could defect to the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party or sabotage ANC campaigns, particularly in municipalities where mayoral candidates were omitted from the IEC lists. Reports suggest as many as 51 mayoral aspirants did not make it onto the final lists, fueling accusations of internal sabotage and factional battles.
As campaigning intensifies, the ANC’s internal wars risk overshadowing its policy message and reinforcing perceptions of a party at war with itself. Analysts warn that the candidate-list crisis could deepen divisions, depress voter turnout among traditional supporters and hand openings to rivals in closely contested metros and local councils.
For now, the party is trying to present a united front while fighting legal battles on multiple fronts, with the IEC, with its own members and within its leadership structures. How it manages these disputes in the coming weeks may determine not just its performance on the 4th of November, but the balance of power inside the ANC as it looks toward future national contests.
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