ConCourt ruling has given Mbalula another shot at the ANC 2027 leadership race, says expert

An expert says the latest Constitutional Court ruling in the matter between the ANC and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has boosted Fikile Mbalula’s chances in the ANC succession contest.

The party will hold its national elective conference next year, and Mbalula is expected to contest key positions such as president or deputy president.

He told reporters on Thursday that he has faced internal backlash from some factions in the ANC over the controversy surrounding the IEC’s exclusion of 181 councillor candidates from the electoral process.

Factions gunning for Mbalula

However, an emotional Mbalula has dodged a bullet, and the court has now instructed the IEC to include these councillors in the electoral process.

“There are others who used this temporary matter to sustain factional tendencies in our organisation. ANC members must learn, and they must respect leadership. Where we have erred, we will never run away to come back to you to apologise.

“We must not use these issues to sustain factional tendencies in our organisation. We could all see that the ANC was up against each other, and I am in tears because I was singled out and attacked even by people I work with in my own collective. Even when I gave them reports, it’s not that they did not believe it; it’s because they want to catch Fikile Mbalula,” he said.

Mbalula’s competence

Mbalula denied that he had failed to carry out his duties as the ANC secretary-general.

“I never failed on the task given to me by the membership of the ANC. I push hard for things to happen expeditiously and on time, but our movement is too big; it’s not a small party, it’s not a small organisation,” said Mbalula.

The Citizen understands that some ANC members threatened to remove Mbalula from his position if the ANC performed poorly at the polls in November. They blamed him for administrative issues that left 181 councillor candidates out of the electoral process.

What does the court victory mean?

Political analyst Sanet Solomon told The Citizen that the ConCourt judgment has given Mbalula some breathing room to boost his campaign in the ANC succession question.

“The ConCourt win has alleviated most of the pressure recently experienced by Mbalula and has also placed him back in the leadership race for the 2027 ANC elective conference.

“It is very likely that he would be contesting for one of the key positions then,” said Solomon.

Mbalula in recovery

Meanwhile, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said in a statement on Friday that Mbalula is recovering after he collapsed during a media briefing outside the Constitutional Court on Thursday.

“The ANC wishes to reassure its members, supporters and people of South Africa that the secretary-general, comrade Fikile Mbalula, is well in good spirits and steadily regaining his strength,” she said.

Is the ANC off the hook?

Despite the ANC’s ConCourt victory, DA Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen said in a statement on Thursday that the victory does not mean the ANC will regain lost public confidence or win the upcoming elections.

“The ANC has now succeeded in court in undoing their own failure to submit candidate lists in six municipalities. However, this will not change their electoral fortunes. The ANC is in terminal decline, and across South Africa its support is at record lows,” he said.