MBOMBELA – The ANC in Mpumalanga remains confident that it would not lose a single municipality in the forthcoming local government elections.
The party announced seven of its 20 mayoral candidates in the province on Monday. They said they had not wanted to name any ahead of the elections on August 3, but did it at the behest of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
This was the first time that the ANC had publicly announced some of its mayoral candidates prior to the elections. The party currently holds every local and district municipality in Mpumalanga.
Ms Violet Siwela, the party’s deputy chairman, said they were confident in all the candidates’ abilities.
Current Mbombela Speaker Cllr Jesta Sidell is the candidate for Ehlanzeni District Municipality, replacing Cllr Letta Shongwe.
Cllr Mike Masina, executive mayor of Steve Tshwete, remains the candidate, as does Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali in eMalahleni.
Ms Linah Malatjie, who served as mayor of eMalahleni Local Municipality before being recalled by the party in 2010, has been named the candidate for Nkangala District.
Spokesman for the Mpumalanga Legislature, Mr Muzi Chirwa is the candidate for Gert Sibande District. Govan Mbeki MMC member Cllr Flora Maboa Boltman is to be the mayor in the local municipality.
Provincial secretary Mr Mandla Ndlovu said they decided to only announce the candidates for “strategic municipalities”.
These are the three districts (Ehlanzeni, Nkangala and Gert Sibande), Mbombela and eMalahleni for having the best chance of attaining the status of metro in future, as well as Steve Tshwete and Govan Mbeki for their potential for economic growth.
“Our decision not to announce the names before the election was clear, to put the ANC first and not individuals. The NEC decided to announce the candidates and we accepted.” Ndlovu denied not announcing candidates for the remaining 13 municipalities over fears that the ANC might lose them.
“At the right time, after the elections, we will announce the mayors, not the candidates. There is not a single municipality which we are going to lose,” he concluded.
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