ANC Invests in Governance Training for Municipal Leadership Pipeline Ahead of 2026 Electio

JOHANNESBURG — A week-long governance training programme for the ANC’s mayoral candidates ahead of the 2026 local government elections signals the party’s attempt to close the performance gaps that have repeatedly undermined municipal leadership across South Africa.

The course will be delivered at the ANC’s school of governance under the direction of former Gauteng premier David Makhura. Candidates will receive instruction in financial statement analysis, media engagement, ethical leadership frameworks, governance systems and service delivery obligations. Party acting national spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli says the programme is expected to commence within three weeks.

The timing is deliberate. Party insiders acknowledge that when comparable training initiatives were discontinued, governance standards visibly deteriorated. One party source pointed to former mayors Amos Masondo and Sputla Ramokgopa as examples of leaders who performed effectively after receiving structured preparation. Reintroducing that preparation is framed, internally, as corrective action.

The ANC’s ambitions extend beyond skill-building. Officials describe the programme as designed to instill organizational values and sharpen accountability. A party source was direct about the consequences of falling short: “If they can’t keep up, they will have to be removed,” the source said, indicating the party intends to act quickly against underperforming officials in the next government.

By contrast, the selection process that produced this cohort of candidates was itself described as comprehensive. Mhlauli confirmed it incorporated assessments of leadership capability, prior experience, community standing, commitment to ANC values and capacity to advance the party’s municipal development agenda. The training, she said, is part of the party’s longstanding commitment to building capable and ethical public representatives.

The candidate preparation follows a broader organizational review. Roughly two weeks before the governance training announcement, the ANC held a national local government workshop bringing together councillors and mayoral candidates from across the country to work through electoral strategy and governance challenges.

Mhlauli indicated that similar programmes have formed part of the party’s wider governance strengthening strategy and that the organization would continue developing councillors and public representatives across all spheres of government. The training of public officials, she stated, reflects the party’s commitment to improving accountability and ensuring that those in leadership positions understand both their political responsibilities to the ANC and their constitutional obligations to the public.

The party frames the effort as part of what it describes as “decisive action to fix local government,” a phrase that speaks directly to a persistent challenge in South African municipal governance: the variable quality of leadership and administration across metropolitan and local municipalities. Structured preparation for incoming mayors is the ANC’s chosen instrument for reducing the performance variance that has contributed to service delivery failures and governance crises in various municipalities.

For now, the programme’s scope remains focused on mayoral candidates. Whether the ANC extends similar intensive preparation to other categories of candidates or elected officials, as Mhlauli’s broader comments hint it might, will be a test of how seriously the party treats political education as a continuous investment rather than a pre-election gesture.