Cyril Ramaphosa warns ANC leaders against targeting Mbalula

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned African National Congress (ANC) leaders against using the party’s recent candidate-list crisis to target Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula. During a National Working Committee meeting, Ramaphosa stated that attacks on Mbalula would not be tolerated, intervening as internal factions sought his removal.

The crisis stems from the ANC’s failure to submit complete candidate lists for several municipal areas in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free State before the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s deadline. This failure affects 181 candidates and could result in the party being absent from the ballot in key areas such as Port St Johns, Ngquza Hill, and Mangaung. While the ANC attributed the issue to system glitches, the Electoral Commission maintained the fault lay with the party. The ANC is currently challenging a court judgment regarding the matter in the Constitutional Court.