Mzansi Now: The City of Johannesburg has elected Loyiso Masuku as ANC chairperson, unseating incumbent Dada Morero

Loyiso Lugayeni-Masuku

Loyiso Masuku was elected the first woman to chair ANC in Johannesburg on December 5, a longtime party stronghold in Gauteng. Dada Morero, who has simultaneously served as both chairperson and mayor, now retains only the latter position after losing the chair to Masuku. 

At the conference last week, 334 accredited voting delegates cast their ballots: 184 for Masuku and 149 for Morero. Of the four other races on the ballot (deputy chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary, and treasurer), all of those aligned with Masuku won, consolidating her control over the city. 

Masuku’s Win  

Masuku is responsible for finance in the mayoral committee (MMC) and was the ANC deputy regional secretary until her election as chairperson. With over a decade of involvement in the ANC, including leadership positions in the ANC Women’s League Johannesburg and the ANC Youth League Johannesburg, her victory can be partially attributed to her political legacy and loyalty to the party. 

The youth league and the women’s league both backed her campaign, accompanied by support from ANC caucus councilors. Councilors were frustrated by Morero’s handling of caucus business, claiming that he created factions and entrenched divisions within the party. 

In her campaign, Masuku emphasized the nationwide service delivery crisis and vowed to prioritize the construction of better plans and infrastructure to ameliorate the issue. Two months ago, the ANC announced a Service Delivery Action Plan to address water leaks, sewage spills, and infrastructure more quickly and efficiently. Masuku intends to continue and expand on the program, including weekly oversight check-ins by local officials and addressing enormous infrastructure backlogs. Her dedication to the issue, which is of prime concern for many Johannesburg residents, pushed her over the threshold to win. 

Morero’s Loss

Morero’s failure was not solely a result of the strong competition brought by Masuku. City Press reported that Morero had prioritized his mayorship over his position as chairman, travelling to foreign countries and abstaining from branch programme meetings. In October, minority coalition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Morero, citing political interference, power centralisation, and service delivery issues. The motion was dropped just days before the race for chairperson and produced an abundance of negative press throughout the tailend of the campaign. 

During his campaign, Morero exerted his influence in deciding who should run for the four other positions on the ballot. In the races for deputy chairperson, treasury, and deputy secretary, Morero allegedly forced the original candidates to drop out, replacing them with those whom Morero felt were better aligned with his policies. Sources close to Morero reported that the candidates forced to drop out subsequently threw their support behind Masuku, creating a situation wherein Morero’s new candidates were less popular with the public while the former, more popular candidates, had begun working against him. 

The blocking of new candidates is not a new political strategy for Morero. Throughout his tenure as chairperson, he was repeatedly accused of blocking new city government appointees and launching poorly regulated programs in an attempt to centralize his authority over Johannesburg. A prime example can be seen in his volunteer initiative called the "Bomb Squad" aimed at addressing service delivery issues. While framed as a community mobilisation effort, critics viewed such a parallel structure as a method to bypass formal administrative channels, centralising control under his political guidance.

Morero had served in the regional executive committee for 15 years and had been chairperson of ANC Johannesburg for three. His failure to adequately improve the service delivery crisis and his role in intra-party factionalism marked his leadership, driving constituents and ANC members toward Masuku, a fresh face for the party in Gauteng. 

Allegations of Manipulation 

These elections were originally scheduled for September, but had been pushed back twice by ANC leadership amid claims of electoral manipulation and vote-buying. A regional executive committee member told Mail & Guardian that delegates had been paid to vote for certain candidates prior to the conference. The source did not disclose which candidates the delegates had been paid to support, but was quoted as saying “There are people who were given brown envelopes containing power banks, an ANC hat, and R3000 in cash. We can’t go on like this as an organisation, where people use money to influence delegates so that they can take power.”

The women’s league and Masuku lashed back at these allegations, stating that they stem from misogynistic ideas about women in politics rather than concrete evidence. Following the conference, the Gauteng provincial task team confirmed that the party was investigating the vote-buying allegations. According to reports, the task team said they had heard the allegations and had their own suspicions, and that disciplinary action would be pursued if wrongdoing was substantiated; however, Johannesburg residents are skeptical of the conflict of interest inherent to the ANC investigating itself. The ANC’s national secretary-general acknowledged these allegations, but stressed that no conclusive evidence had been presented publicly proving that vote-buying had occurred. 

Divisions in the ANC

The election highlights realignments taking place in the ANC, with Morero blaming Johannesburg's political and economic struggles on the DA, the ANC’s rival party. In particular, he has repeatedly attributed service delivery issues to systemic issues from before his tenure. Masuku, alternatively, addresses failures by the ANC and claims that new leadership within the party will alleviate some of the current issues facing Johannesburg residents today. 

Between November 2026 and February 2027, municipal elections will be held across the nation’s nine provinces. Some speculate that if Masuku’s first year as chair is successful, she may take Morero’s mayoral seat next.