In a bid to halt a decline in voter support in the local government elections, the ANC wants to be represented by the most popular candidates in communities — even if they are not party members before being chosen.
The party's candidate selection guidelines show the party wants communities to have the final say on who should be the party's candidate for ward councillor — and have the right to veto branch decisions.
This is perceived as the party's attempt to deal with a threat posed by popular independent candidates who may snatch wards from the party.
The candidate selection process is highly contested within the party, and was the source of violent conflict in some parts of SA in the previous local government elections.
The guidelines still give the party's branches the power to choose their preferred candidates and then introduce them to communities for approval.
"If the community expresses discontent with all candidates, they may nominate an alternative by simple majority. [The candidate] will be added to the ballot for the community vote, others remain on [the] short list. If [the] candidate [is] not an ANC member [they] must join before [the] vote," the rules for candidate selection states.
The party's deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, and its head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, declined to comment
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said this is a desperate move and an indication that the ANC cannot rely on its own process to pick an electable candidate.
"What the ANC is trying to do now, because it cannot manage its own internal affairs, is to use the community to weed out bad charlatans that would have been nominated by ANC branches.
"It's highly unlikely that if the community rejects an ANC list and they prefer someone else that the local ANC will accept it. That is almost like the ANC being dictated to by non-ANC members," said Mathekga.
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