ANC Youth League Backs Port St Johns Sub-Region in Rejection of NWC Officials And Demands SG Fikile Mbalula Steps Down
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) Port St Johns Sub-Regional Task Team has formally declared its support for local ANC branches that recently refused to be addressed by members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
The regional fallout stems from a high-stakes administrative failure regarding the upcoming 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE).
Local party structures requested that visiting NWC officials confirm whether the ANC’s ward and proportional representation (PR) councillor candidate lists for Port St Johns were successfully submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
The leadership also sought assurances that ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula would be held accountable for the registration failure.
When NWC members failed to provide these guarantees, local branches blocked the scheduled addresses.
The ANCYL’s backing intensifies pressure on the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) and Mbalula.
Local youth leaders point directly to the governing party’s own internal rules to justify the branches’ revolt.
According to Section 9 (9.6) (9.6.5) of the ANC 2026 LGE Guidelines: “The Secretary General shall submit and upload ANC candidate names on the IEC portal in the presence of the Secretary of the Electoral Committee, Chair of the PLCs and Provincial Secretaries who shall confirm the validity of the final lists.”
The ANCYL emphasizes that the non-submission carries severe consequences for youth representation in the region, noting that over 70% of the excluded Port St Johns candidates were young people.
The task team expressed deep frustration that a vital cohort capable of driving local governance and transformation has been sidelined by high-level administrative negligence.
Despite the growing internal friction and the potential exclusion of the ANC from the local ballot, the sub-regional youth leadership maintained a stance of party loyalty.
The ANCYL affirmed that its members will remain disciplined within the ranks and will not associate with, or vote for, any alternati