Mbalula hits back at Andile Lungisa’s court challenge as ANC battles candidate-list fallout

'He must have written as a person, not through lawyers, to me, and raise his concerns,' the ANC official said. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has questioned National Executive Committee (NEC) member Andile Lungisa’s decision to take his exclusion from the party’s election candidate list to court. Lungisa has approached the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to challenge the removal of his name from the ANC’s proportional representative (PR) councillor list for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in the Eastern Cape ahead of the 2026 local government elections. The dispute comes as the ANC grapples with the fallout from its failure to submit complete candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) by the 28 August deadline. LIVE interactive map, latest news, multimedia and more! View Map Lungisa has reportedly alleged that Mbalula personally instructed that his name be removed despite meeting all the requirements for inclusion on the list. According to his lawyer, the court challenge is expected to be heard in late September. Mbalula reacts to Andile Lungisa court challenge Mbalula was questioned about the dispute while speaking to journalists in Kimberley, Northern Cape, on Saturday, 12 September. The ANC secretary-general confirmed that he had received correspondence from Lungisa, but indicated he could not engage substantively with the allegations because the matter was now being dealt with through the courts. “I received the letter, but Andile Lungisa is an author of the ANC guidelines, and if you talk about the metrics and write me through the lawyers, it’s a matter that I will settle in court. “I have to respect that process because whatever I’m going to say on behalf of the ANC about what he has written will be used against me in a court of law, either to the point of saying we misinterpret the guidelines or anything of that sort. “So, I don’t get involved with that. But as a leader politically of his calibre and NEC member, he must know how to raise issues of that nature, because it’s not only him who’s affected by issues,” the ANC secretary-general told reporters. Mbalula, who is allegedly under fire within the party, suggested that Lungisa could have approached him directly instead of choosing the legal route. “He must have written as a person, not through lawyers, to me, and raise his concerns… then we attend to them and that is what is important. “But nonetheless, because now we’re talking through lawyers, it’s a matter we’ll settle there with the lawyers and respond accordingly in defence of the ANC and its processes.” ANC defends legal action against IEC The candidate-list controversy extends beyond individual ANC members, with the party itself locked in a legal dispute with the IEC. Mbalula maintained that the ANC’s position regarding the commission had not changed. “We are not fighting the IEC and, therefore, our matter is a matter of law,” he remarked on Saturday. The ANC has blamed a “technical glitch” for its failure to capture all of its candidates on the IEC’s electronic system. The IEC has rejected the explanation and has maintained that its system did not experience technical difficulties. The party has subsequently approached the Electoral Court in an attempt to resolve the dispute. In papers opposing the ANC’s application, the IEC alleged that the party continued uploading candidate information until just five minutes before the 5:00pm deadline on 28 August. Internal report reveals extent of ANC list crisis The extent of the problem has been highlighted in a confidential ANC report by Mbalula detailing how the party handled its candidate lists. The Sunday Times reported that Mbalula acknowledged that late submissions and last-minute changes resulted in 51 mayoral candidates being omitted from the final lists. Among those affected was veteran ANC member Frank Chikane, who was expected to contest the mayoral position in the City of Johannesburg. The report indicates that 23 of the omitted candidates were from metropolitan municipalities and strategic cities, while another 28 came from local municipalities. Eastern Cape and Gauteng leadership implicated The Eastern Cape has emerged as one of the provinces at the centre of the ANC’s candidate-list problems. According to the Sunday Times, Mbalula blamed Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukaitobi for difficulties in the province after he allegedly submitted the final list of candidates to the party only 29 minutes before the IEC’s deadline. Mbalula reportedly raised concerns that Ngcukaitobi had made changes to the list without NEC approval. The problems have also affected the ANC’s candidate lists in Gauteng. News24 reported that Mbalula identified ANC Gauteng provincial task team (PTT) co-ordinator Sochayile Khanyile and provincial list committee (PLC) chair Mally Mokoena as being responsible for Chikane’s exclusion. The party was also reportedly unable to register important leadership candidates in a number of metropolitan municipalities, including eThekwini, Cape Town, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Mangaung. More candidates missing from ballots The repercussions have extended to Limpopo, where ANC MP Soviet Lekganyane’s name reportedly does not appear on any ballot. This has led to allegations that provincial leaders deliberately left Lekganyane off the list while seeking to retain Polokwane mayor John Mpe in the position. In KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the ANC’s recommended mayoral candidates for eThekwini have also been affected. The party had put forward former KZN premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and KZN MPL Maggie Govender as its preferred candidates. However, Mbalula’s report indicated that neither candidate appeared on the final list. Mangaung is another municipality where the ANC’s candidate-list problems have had significant consequences. The party has no PR councillor candidate in the municipality after mayoral candidate Sekhopi Malebo was affected by the IEC submission saga. The developments have left the ANC facing multiple challenges ahead of the 4 November elections.