By Staff Reporter

The African National Congress (ANC) has scrapped its planned regional and provincial conferences, opting instead to fast-track the nomination and selection of councillors in a move that signals urgency ahead of looming electoral deadlines.

The decision shifts focus from internal deliberations to candidate processes, with party structures now expected to prioritise branch-level nominations and streamline the selection pipeline to ensure readiness for the upcoming polls.

In a letter addressed to provinces and the party’s electoral committee chairperson, Kgalema Motlanthe, Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula directed party members to officially kick off the selection process of councillors from 1 April, while putting a stop to internal elective conferences.

“This instruction effectively means that all ANC elective conferences at regional and provincial levels must be put on hold from 1 April until immediately after the date of the 2026 local government elections, which is yet to be announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),” Mbalula said in the letter.

He further ordered that, in line with the selection process, all NEC-approved rules and guidelines must be strictly followed.

“We wish to emphasise that adherence to rules and guidelines approved by the NEC is sacrosanct and deviations of any form shall not be tolerated by the ANC,” he said.

The IEC has indicated that local government elections are expected to take place between November 2025 and January 2026.