Fikile Mbalula says ANC not in a rush to announce its Joburg Mayor candidate
ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, has revealed that the ANC is not in a rush to announce its public representatives to represent the party in next year’s local government elections.
This comes as the DA has unveiled its candidate for the City of Johannesburg Mayoral position in Helen Zille.
Zille was officially announced as the party’s leading candidate to lead the party in Joburg at an event in Soweto on Saturday.
Mbalula indicated that ahead of the local government elections, the party is hard at work trying to capacitate its councillors.
Mbalula addressed members of the media during a roll-call report back meeting in Turfontein, South of Johannesburg, on Sunday
“We are in a coalition government. We have a few months before the term of office ends. Here in Johannesburg, the mayor is an ANC member, and we must lead decisively. Public representatives will come next year when we conclude our list process.
“We do not run our election campaign based on personalities. We run the election campaign based on what the ANC has done for the people, and we account to the people on what the party has done,” he said.
Mbalula also responded to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent statement that DA-run municipalities are better run than those led by ANC councillors.
“The people will follow the truth. That is what is important for us. We are busy now with the roll-call of our representatives. If the people want to deal with the ANC, let them talk about real, concrete issues. The masses understand very well what the President is talking about.
“What is important for them is for us to do the things that we have set for ourselves in terms of our plan of action. If the President can say that ANC-led municipalities are run very well in terms of the Auditor General’s report, they would have equally produced evidence that Ramaphosa is not telling the truth,” he said.
The meeting comes after last week’s ANC Special NEC meeting in Boksburg and Monday’s national roll call of councillors at the FNB Stadium, where more than 4,000 ANC councillors gathered to pave a way for improved service delivery, and challenges plaguing municipalities.
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