‘Irreparable’ tensions cloud ANC regional secretary’s exit as Ekurhuleni mayoral race heats up

In what appears to be a move to prepare himself for a bid to be mayor, Ekurhuleni Finance MMC and ANC Regional Secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi opted to resign from his party position for the second time, amid alleged tensions with mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, who is also competing for the mayoral position.

His resignation comes as the ANC prepares to announce its mayoral candidates in September before the municipal elections.

Dlabathi previously stepped down as regional secretary in February, citing political tensions, but was begged by the ANC’s national and provincial structures to remain in the position.

This time, however, the party has accepted his resignation.

Sources within the ANC in Ekurhuleni told Daily Maverick that Dlabathi resolved to relinquish the position so that he could “focus” on his responsibilities in government.

“The tensions between him and Xhakaza are irreparable, despite continued intervention by party structures,” the source said. “From what we understand, he felt it’s best he sacrifices himself and removes himself from party matters to focus more on his work in government.”

Dlabathi chooses municipal governance

Dlabathi’s decision has been viewed within party circles as a strategic move as the contest for the Ekurhuleni mayoral position takes shape.

In a letter seen by Daily Maverick and addressed to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, Dlabathi said he had considered whether to remain a full-time regional secretary or pursue other employment.

He ultimately chose to relinquish the full-time party responsibility while remaining in his municipal position.

“Having applied my mind on the options to either remain full time as a regional secretary or other employment, I thus wish to inform the secretary-general that I have opted to recuse myself from the full-time responsibility of the regional secretary, thus opting to remain within my municipal responsibility,” he said.

Dlabathi said the decision was consistent with what he had told the ANC during the mayoral candidate interview process. He asked to be released from the regional secretary position with effect from the end of August 2026.

Mbalula subsequently wrote to Dlabathi confirming that the ANC had accepted his resignation. The decision follows an instruction from the ANC’s National Executive Committee that all regional secretaries must serve full time, in line with Rule 21.5.3 of the ANC constitution.

Mbalula said the directive, communicated to provincial and regional secretaries in May, left no room for exceptions.

“The directive of 29 May 2026 accordingly required every regional secretary holding employment elsewhere, within thirty (30) days, either to resign from that employment or to resign as regional secretary,” he said. “The National Executive Committee placed the question beyond further debate and directed that no indulgence be granted and no exception be permitted.”

Dlabathi, Mbalula said, had therefore exercised his choice by giving up the party position.

“The secretary-general’s office records its appreciation to Comrade Jongizizwe for his service to the African National Congress and to the Ekurhuleni Region during his tenure as regional secretary,” Mbalula said.

Political timing

While Dlabathi’s resignation comes as the ANC tightens enforcement of its full-time requirement for regional secretaries, the timing has fuelled speculation within Ekurhuleni’s political structures.

The directive was issued in May, but Dlabathi has only now opted to relinquish his regional secretary position at the same time that the ANC is finalising its mayoral candidates for the November elections.

Both Dlabathi and Xhakaza are in the running to become the ANC’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, having gone through interviews in recent months alongside former Gauteng provincial legislature speaker Ntombi Mekgwe.

Daily Maverick understands that Dlabathi is leading the internal contest, having received the highest number of nominations for the proportional representation list, while Xhakaza was ranked third.

Insiders also told Daily Maverick that Dlabathi was ranked first by the Regional Interview and Vetting Panel following the mayoral candidate interviews, with Xhakaza again ranked third.

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The internal rankings have added another layer to the strained relationship between the two senior ANC figures. Sources said it was against this backdrop that Xhakaza moved to remove Dlabathi as finance MMC last month. The move, however, met resistance from ANC Gauteng officials, who challenged the decision, which was subsequently reversed.

Speaking to Daily Maverick about his initial decision to remove Dlabathi as finance MMC, Xhakaza characterised the matter as an issue of internal organisational processes. He said the ANC’s full-time requirement for regional secretaries was intended to ensure that the party had sufficient capacity before the elections.

“Those were internal processes,” Xhakaza said. “All that we’re trying to do is to meet the decision of the organisation. We are busy now we’re in the election. We need full-time capacity to run the elections.

“In fact, in the movement, it is standard that secretaries are full time in the office.”

Xhakaza said Dlabathi had initially been brought into the Finance MMC position because the ANC needed experienced leadership to deal with the challenges it inherited from the previous coalition administration.

“This was made as an intervention when we removed the EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga. We then brought an experienced person to assist us, and that was comrade Jongizizwe.”

He said the ANC had been dealing with the challenges posed by the previous coalition involving the DA and EFF. Xhakaza said the administration had since made progress in recovering the municipality’s finances.

“You would know now we recovered from the R2-billion and we now need to work harder to recover in terms of the audit regress and all those things,” he said. “The option remains with individual leadership to actually express where they think they can still play a role.”

He further welcomed the ANC’s acceptance of Dlabathi’s resignation.

Tensions between senior officials

However, the tensions between Xhakaza and Dlabathi, which insiders described as “irreparable”, are not new. Xhakaza serves as the ANC’s Ekurhuleni regional chairperson, while Dlabathi had been the regional secretary.

Their differences have previously centred on the running of the municipality, internal ANC consultation and the City’s coalition arrangements. Dlabathi has previously criticised aspects of Xhakaza’s decisions on certain matters, amid the tensions that contributed to his earlier resignations as finance MMC and ANC regional secretary.

Asked specifically about the tensions between himself and Dlabathi, Xhakaza dismissed suggestions that the resignation was driven by the mayoral contest.

“No, but the organisation has always been clear. I’m sure there’s lots of correspondences, including the correspondence that you have. It’s very clear,” he told Daily Maverick. He accused people of attempting to create division within the ANC.

“All these other things are just people who are harbouring gossip.”

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Xhakaza said the same requirement had been applied to regional secretaries elsewhere in Gauteng.

“Go to Sedibeng, Jason Mkhwane had to choose whether he keeps his supply chain management job or the regional secretary. Go to Johannesburg, Sasabona Manganye had to choose whether he keep his executive job in the government or the regional secretary.”

He said the issue was therefore not specific to Dlabathi.

“So there’s nothing really in particular. The efforts or the intentions are aimed at strengthening the electoral support of the ANC, nothing else,” Xhakaza said.

The ANC is now expected to process Dlabathi’s resignation and appoint an acting regional secretary, while the party continues with its preparations to finalise its mayoral candidates before the November elections.

The ANC has instructed the Ekurhuleni Regional Executive Committee to convene an urgent meeting within seven days to process the resignation and determine transitional arrangements. The regional executive must formally note the resignation, appoint an acting regional secretary from among its members and ensure that the person appointed is available to serve full. time.

The acting secretary will serve until the next Ekurhuleni regional conference. Dlabathi has also been instructed to hand over regional materials, records, correspondence and other ANC property in his possession within seven days.

He remains in his position, though, as Finance MMC. DM