The African National Congress (ANC) in KwaZulu-Natal is confident that the women and men put forward as mayoral candidates in the province can lead them to a decisive victory.

Provincial chairman Sihle Zikalala unveiled the candidates for 15 mayoral posts on Tuesday – headlined by Zandile Gumede‚ who is slated to lead the Durban-based eThekwini Municipality

He said the processes followed were fair and ensured that the best people were put forward for the job.

“In the ANC we don’t just wake up say: ‘This is a mayor.’ And you don’t appoint yourself‚” he said.

Three candidates were chosen by each region for the mayoral posts. These were discussed by the provincial structures before being forwarded to the party’s national structures for confirmation.

“You can see we’ve been serious about the people we’ve pulled in and put forward as mayors. We have ensured that we’ve come up with the best of the best. We’ve embraced the principle of unity‚ and ensured we’ve embraced continuity as a principle that guides us‚” said Zikalala.

Earlier‚ KZN secretary Supa Zuma said these candidates would ensure the ANC would win – and win well.

“We want to ensure that we govern all 54 municipalities and all 870 wards in KwaZulu-Natal in order to be able to expand on the great strides that we have achieved over the past 16 years since the establishment of a democratic local government.

“The provincial executive committee conducted a detailed assessment of the elections campaign‚ looking closely at our strengths and weaknesses in all our 11 regions. Generally‚ we are satisfied with the pace of the campaign and are certain of decisive victory on August 3‚” he said.

The candidates that were unveiled include:

- eThekwini metro: Zandile Gumede‚ the party’s regional chair and a councillor in Durban since 2000‚ who sits on the council’s powerful executive committee;

- Zululand district: Sipho Nkosi‚ a school principal who has held various positions within the ANC and teacher unions;

- uMkhanyakude district: Solomon Mkhombo‚ mayor of the uMhlabuyalingana local municipality;

- uMzinyathi district: Lindokuhle Ngubane‚ who has been put forward to retain her post at the council;

- uThungulu district: Nonhle Mkhulisa‚ who will get a promotion from her position of deputy mayor;

- iLembe district: Siduduzo Gumede‚ a so-called “Mr Fix-It” who is a councillor in the KwaDukuza municipality;

- Ugu district: Tolomane Mnyayiza‚ a former advisor to the provincial legislature and the party’s chairman in the Lower South Coast Region;

- uMgungundlovu district: Thobekile Maphumulo‚ who has previously served as a deputy mayor and mayor of the Mkhambathini local municipality;

- uThukela district: Siphiwe Mazibuko‚ who will get moved upwards from his position as a councillor on the executive committee and chief whip at the same council;

- Amajuba district: Musa Ngubane‚ a community activist and medical doctor who is employed by the provincial health department and was involved in the roll-out of the National Health Insurance programme in the region;

- Harry Gwala district: Mluleki Ndobe‚ who has been put forward to retain his post as mayor;

- uMsunduzi local municipality: Themba Njilo‚ a businessman described as a “passionate community activist who is also an ANC member in good standing”‚ who runs drug rehabilitation centres in the area;

- Newcastle local municipality: Makhosini Nkosi‚ a lawyer and an MPL who has previously worked within the municipality’s legal department;

- Ray Nkonyeni local municipality: Nomusa Mqwebu‚ mayor of the Hibiscus Coast local municipality‚ has been put forward to lead the brand new council; and

- uMhlathuze local municipality: Mdu Mhlongo‚ is slated to retain his post as mayor.

– TMG Digital