ANC names 42 possible mayoral candidates for only eight metros

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Aug 22, 2026 · 1275 words · By Reitumetse Pilane

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What to know about ANC names 42 possible mayoral candidates for only eight metros

The ANC was expected to announce its mayoral candidates on Saturday, 22 August, ahead of its local government election manifesto launch in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on Sunday, but instead presented a pool of potential candidates for South Africa’s eight metros…

Claims checked 29

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The ANC’s national officials are now expected to make the final mayoral candidate selections in September.

Common ground

Instead of allowing regional structures to determine the candidates, the party opened nominations to the public, alongside its branches and other structures, before candidates were screened, vetted, and interviewed.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: ANC names 42 possible mayoral candidates for only eight metros?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Pelisa Nkunjani is currently Ekurhuleni’s whip of council?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-22-anc-names-42-possible-mayoral…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 29 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 19

check_circle Corroborated 6

verified Verified By Reference 2

report Misleading 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Pelisa Nkunjani is currently Ekurhuleni’s whip of council”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “Chana Pilane-Majake... served as the CEO of the Commission on Gender Equality”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “A recent Social Research Foundation poll put the ANC at 34% nationally, ahead of the DA with 27%”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm a Social Research Foundation (SRF) poll put the ANC at 34% nationally and the DA at 27%.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 South African municipal elections will be held on 4 November 2026 across South Africa, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_South_African_municipal_e…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — uMkhonto weSizwe Party (Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation' Party'), abbreviated as MKP, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a South African populist and democratic centralist political party founded…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMkhonto_weSizwe_Party

+ 3 more evidence sources

report

Claim 4: “it won 62% of the vote in 2011, 53.9% in 2016 and 47.5% in 2021”

MISLEADING

The evidence confirms 62% in 2011 and 53.9% in 2016, but for 2021, the source states the ANC won 'just over 45%', which contradicts the claim's specific figure of 47.5%.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — ANC is the African National Congress, which became the ruling political party in South Africa in the 1994 election. ANC may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANC_(disambiguation)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_National_Congress

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Ntombi Mekgwe is a former Ekurhuleni mayor who later served in multiple Gauteng MEC positions and as Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 6: “Loyiso Masuku is Joburg’s deputy mayor and finance MMC”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists entirely of irrelevant search results about ChatGPT and contains no information about Loyiso Masuku's role as deputy mayor or finance MMC.

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web search NEUTRAL — ChatGPT accelerated the AI boom, an ongoing period marked by rapid investment and public attention toward the field of artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI operates the service on a freemium model. Us…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT

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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · ChatGPT is an advanced conversational AI (or chatbot) developed by OpenAI, designed to engage users in natural language dialogue and provide informative responses across a wide range of t…
https://gizmodo.com/download/chatgpt

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Bring in context from your apps, files, browser, screenshots, email, and screen so ChatGPT can help without breaking your flow. Whether you’re getting a quick answer, finishing a complex project, or b…
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9plm9xgg6vks

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Claim 7: “The DA’s Retief Odendaal is seeking to return as mayor after serving from 2022-23”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “Nomusa Dube-Ncube is... a former KZN premier, MEC and the current national deputy minister of higher education and training”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “Aaron Maluleka is an ANC councillor and MMC for Human Settlements”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 10: “Dada Morero is the incumbent Johannesburg mayor and was elected in August 2024”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia directly confirms that Dada Morero has been the Mayor of Johannesburg since 16 August 2024.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The mayor of Johannesburg is the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since 2000, they are the chief executive of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality coun…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Johannesburg

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sello Enoch Dada Morero is a South African politician who has been the Mayor of Johannesburg since 16 August 2024, a position which he previously held for 25 days, from 30 September 2022 until 25 Octo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada_Morero

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Claim 11: “Cilliers Brink is campaigning for another term [as Tshwane mayor]”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has been Ekurhuleni mayor since April 2024”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “The ANC was expected to announce its mayoral candidates on Saturday, 22 August”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results independently confirm that the ANC was expected to announce its mayoral candidates on Saturday, 22 August.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is serving as the fifth president of South Africa since 2018. A former anti-apartheid activist and t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Ramaphosa

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of events affecting Philippine television in 2026. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel launches, closures and rebrandings, as well…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Philippine_television

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 14: “Chana Pilane-Majake is a former Member of Parliament who served as deputy minister of public service and administration from 2019 to 2024”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 15: “ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said 226 people were put forward for consideration across roughly 50 municipalities and all nine provinces”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms the ANC was nominating candidates and interviewing them, none of the provided sources mention the specific number '226 people' or 'roughly 50 municipalities'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Apartheid ( ə-PART-(h)yte, especially South African English: ə-PART-(h)ayt, Afrikaans: [aˈpart(ɦ)əit] ; transl. "separateness", lit. 'aparthood') was a system of institutionalised racial segregation …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of municipalities of South Africa. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities, eac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Sout…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. The country consists of nine provinces, and is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 16: “Kgoši Maepa is a former ANC Tshwane regional chairperson and has also served as Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s chief of staff”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 17: “Incumbent mayor Gregory Nthatisi has held his position since 2023”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 18: “Jongizizwe Dlabathi is the ANC regional secretary and Ekurhuleni’s finance and strategy MMC”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 19: “Reverend Frank Chikane... was director-general in the Presidency in Thabo Mbeki’s administration”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 20: “Incumbent mayor Cyril Xaba’s tenure [in eThekwini]”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 21: “local government election manifesto launch in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on Sunday”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm the manifesto launch took place in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on Sunday (specifically Sunday, 23 August 2026).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Speaking at the ANC’s local government elections manifesto launch at Riverside Park near Diepsloot in Johannesburg on Sunday, Ramaphosa outlined six areas of focus for the party over the next five yea…
https://iol.co.za/capetimes/news/2026-08-24-ramaphosa-unveil…

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web search NEUTRAL — What the ANC local election manifesto promises. Cyril Ramaphosa launched the manifesto at Riverside Park in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, on Sunday 23 August 2026. The party titled it Masakhe, mea…
https://www.riotimesonline.com/anc-local-election-manifesto-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The African National Congress (ANC) will host two key milestones as part of its preparations for the 2026 Local Government Elections, namely the official announcement of its Mayoral Candidates and the…
https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-to-host-mayoral-candidate-ann…

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Claim 22: “4 November local government elections”

CORROBORATED

Five independent cross-references from news sources (Sowetan, Daily Maverick, Timeslive, Dailydispatch) all confirm the local government elections are scheduled for November 4.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — the upcoming local government elections scheduled for November 4.
https://www.sowetan.co.za/opinion/letters/2026-05-21-reader-…

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cross reference SUPPORTS — local government elections scheduled for 4 November
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-05-24-swallowed…

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cross reference SUPPORTS — The local government elections are scheduled for November 4
https://timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-05-22-local-g…

+ 2 more evidence sources

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Claim 23: “Tlangi Mogale is the MMC of roads and transport in Tshwane and is also the ANC’s Tshwane deputy chairperson”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 24: “Loyiso Masuku... beating Morero to become ANC Joburg regional chairperson in 2025”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Loyiso Masuku was elected as the ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson, replacing Dada Morero.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Regional chair: Loyiso Masuku (184) over Dada Morero (149)Regional secretary: Sasabona Manganye (205) over Lebogang Shabalala (128)Masuku’s election comes as the ANC in Johannesburg pushes to recast i…
https://www.businessday.co.za/politics/2025-12-05-loyiso-mas…

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web search NEUTRAL — Loyiso Masuku has made history, becoming the first woman to be elected as the ANC regional chairperson of Johannesburg. Her victory signals a significant shift in the city's political landscape, comin…
https://iol.co.za/the-star/news/2025-12-05-who-is-loyiso-mas…

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web search NEUTRAL — Loyiso Masuku has been elected as the African National Congress (ANC) Johannesburg region chairperson, replacing Dada Morero. The party held day two of its sixteenth Johannesburg regional conference i…
https://www.polity.org.za/article/loyiso-masuku-replaces-dad…

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Claim 25: “Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Nocawe Mafu”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 26: “Incumbent mayor Princess Faku has held the position since March 2023”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 27: “Andile Lungisa is an ANC NEC member and former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 28: “most major parties, including the DA, EFF, ActionSA, PA and IFP, have announced their candidates”

CORROBORATED

Two independent cross-references from Timeslive confirm that the DA, EFF, ActionSA, PA, and IFP (among others) have already announced their mayoral candidates.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — The DA, EFF, ActionSA, PA, IFP, Bosa, Rise Mzansi and others have already announced their mayoral candidates
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-08-15-ancs-mayoral…

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cross reference SUPPORTS — In Joburg, for instance, the DA has put up Zille, the EFF has announced Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, ActionSA has Mashaba, the PA has Kenny Kunene, the IFP has Mlungisi Mabaso, Bosa has Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster,…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-08-15-ancs-mayoral…

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Claim 29: “Babalwa Lobishe is the current Nelson Mandela Bay mayor after her 2024 election”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.