A group of MK Party (MKP) members is lobbying for Bongani Baloyi to stand as the party’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate in the local government elections set for November 4.
Several sources within the MKP said this week there was a strong view that given Baloyi’s experience and success when he was the DA mayor of Midvaal, he stands the best chance of clinching the metro for the party.
Should the lobbyists get their way, Baloyi would go head-to-head with DA veteran Helen Hellen Zille and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba for Johannesburg’s mayoral chain.
The Sunday Times understands that MKP MP and former chief whip Mzwanele Manyi is one of Baloyi’s backers.
This thing was started by Mzwanele Manyi in a group of the MKP ... and Bongani doesn’t want to find himself in the crosshairs; I know he doesn’t like all of this unnecessary attention.
— Senior MKP leader
“It’s not that he has been confirmed as a mayoral candidate,” said a senior party leader. “This thing was started by Mzwanele Manyi in a group of the MKP ... and Bongani doesn’t want to find himself in the crosshairs; I know he doesn’t like all of this unnecessary attention.”
Manyi did not respond to questions, while Baloyi said he had no comment.
Baloyi made history in 2013 when he became South Africa’s youngest mayor after being elected to lead the Midvaal municipality under the DA banner. During his tenure the municipality achieved two clean audits and was named one of the best-performing municipalities in the country.
Since then, his political career has not been without hiccups. He left the DA to join ActionSA for a short stint before starting his own political party, Xiluva, which failed to gain traction.
He then joined the MKP, where he was, until March, the party’s head of elections. He is currently a member of the party’s high command structure led by former president Jacob Zuma, who is said to be fond of him.
However, some in the party have rejected the idea of nominating Baloyi for the Johannesburg mayorship.
We’re not going to do the Hollywood style of announcing big names. It must be organic; it must be such that it must be the communities who must lead them as councillors and ultimately their mayor. We are not going to have a top-down approach
— Nhlamulo Ndhlela, MK Party MP
Those against the move are said to have raised concerns that if he ran, there would be three candidates — Zille, Mashaba and Baloyi — who have links to the DA, saying the MKP should not be seen to be supporting a “DA agenda”.
“Bongani is competent and highly intelligent,” said a senior MKP leader. “He’s been a mayor before, he’s got experience, he’s definitely a good comrade. But there was this notion that in the MKP we always try to catapult people to senior positions when they come from outside — but we argued that Bongani has been with us for a long time.”
MKP MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela did not want to comment on Baloyi’s possible candidature, saying the party was still in the process of finalising its candidates.
He said the process would be undertaken through community imbizos, which would be given an opportunity to recommend their preferred mayoral candidates.
“We’re not going to do the Hollywood style of announcing big names,” Ndhlela said. “It must be organic; it must be such that it must be the communities who must lead them as councillors and ultimately their mayor. We are not going to have a top-down approach.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.