The African National Congress’s Johannesburg region has removed Rev Frank Chikane from eligibility on its proportional representation (PR) candidate list ahead of the 2026 local government elections, a manoeuvre Business Day reported on 16 September 2026 that effectively strengthens the position of regional chair Loyiso Masuku as the party’s mayoral candidate.
What happened
Business Day reported that Chikane, a veteran bureaucrat and a nationally recognised compromise figure backed by the party’s national headquarters at Luthuli House, was taken off the region’s PR list. The removal comes after Masuku, who is the region’s executive deputy mayor and defeated incumbent Dada Morero for the ANC regional chair, consolidated support inside the regional executive.
The report notes that removing Chikane removes an alternative to Masuku and shifts momentum towards the regionally preferred candidate. Masuku was already placed at the top of the ANC’s PR list for Johannesburg before — a placement that in 2021 failed to translate into the mayoralty when the party selected Mpho Moerane, second on the list at the time, as its council mayoral candidate.
Why the move matters
The pruning of Chikane’s eligibility illustrates two familiar dynamics in South African party politics: the contest between national leadership and regional power-brokers, and the deliberate use of PR lists as levers to determine who will be presented for council votes.
For the Johannesburg region, securing an undisputed top-ranked PR candidate who also chairs the region reduces the risk of late deals or alternative nominations on the council floor — a scenario that unfolded in 2021 when the party’s list ordering did not directly produce its mayoral nominee.
For Luthuli House, the loss of Chikane from the list is a setback to a compromise option that might have appealed across factional lines. Business Day framed the removal as a tactical move by the regional leadership to lock in a home-grown candidate.
Winners, losers and the price of stability
- Winner: Loyiso Masuku — gains clearer path to the mayoralty and stronger control over the regional power structure.
- Loser: Frank Chikane — removed from contention despite being a nationally recognised figure supported by Luthuli House.
- Potential cost: Increased friction between national and regional ANC structures, and the possibility of behind-the-scenes bargaining during council votes.
The dynamics have practical consequences. Removal from the PR list is not merely symbolic: the PR ranking determines who the party can present when coalition negotiations and council ballots take place. A clear regional pick is intended to avoid split voting or last-minute substitutions that can hand the mayoralty to rivals or produce weak mandates.
| Person | Role | Position on PR list / 2021 outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Chikane | Seasoned bureaucrat (national figure) | Removed from PR list (per Business Day) |
| Loyiso Masuku | ANC Johannesburg regional chair; executive deputy mayor | Top of PR list; regional mayoral pick |
| Dada Morero | Former regional leader | Defeated by Masuku for regional chair |
| Mpho Moerane (deceased) | Former PR list candidate | In 2021 the party put Moerane forward as mayor, despite list ranking |
Broader implications
This episode is an example of how intra-party list management can influence municipal governance. As coalition politics has become more common in metros, the ANC’s internal decisions over PR lists and mayoral nominations carry outsized weight — they determine bargaining chips and the credibility of candidates in negotiations with smaller parties.
Business Day’s reporting underscores that list engineering is not simply technical housekeeping; it is a strategic tool used by party factions to shape outcomes. If the region’s objective is a straightforward transfer of mandate from party structures to the council, removing a national compromise figure reduces ambiguity. The trade-off is that such decisions can exacerbate tensions within the party and between provincial and national bodies.
The ANC’s Johannesburg region and Luthuli House have not publicly reconciled the reported difference in preferences. With local government elections approaching, the choreography of PR lists and candidate nominations is likely to remain a key theatre of contestation.
