JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday 25 August 2026 — The African National Congress has said a proposal to potentially merge Gauteng’s three metropolitan municipalities into a single city region is not part of its 2026 local government election manifesto, after comments by senior party official Nomvula Mokonyane prompted debate over the future structure of municipal government in the province.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday that the idea should be understood as part of a broader discussion about the future of local government rather than an election commitment.
Mbalula’s clarification follows comments by ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane suggesting that the boundaries and structure of municipalities should be reviewed and that Gauteng could eventually be considered as a more integrated “city region”.
Mokonyane said the ANC intended to discuss municipal viability and boundary structures at a policy conference after the 4 November local government elections.
Her comments raised the possibility that Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni could form part of a more integrated metropolitan structure, although she did not set out a formal proposal or implementation plan.
Mbalula said the ANC should instead be judged on the commitments contained in its published local government manifesto.
The party launched that manifesto at the weekend with pledges focused on basic services, municipal finances, job creation, accountability and local economic development.
The possible Gauteng restructuring has nevertheless drawn responses from parties represented in the provincial legislature.
ActionSA questioned whether amalgamating metropolitan municipalities would improve service delivery, pointing to existing governance problems in municipalities that have previously undergone restructuring.
The Economic Freedom Fighters said it favoured a more extensive restructuring in which Gauteng would operate as a single municipality and the provincial sphere of government would be removed, a change that would require constitutional and legislative amendments.
ANC Gauteng representative Lebogang Maile said the party’s long-running “Gauteng City Region” concept did not necessarily mean collapsing Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni into a single municipality.
He said one option under discussion was whether non-metropolitan areas such as the West Rand and Sedibeng should be incorporated into existing metros or developed into metropolitan municipalities in their own right.
The Democratic Alliance has opposed the suggestion of redrawing Gauteng’s municipal boundaries, arguing that changes should not be used to alter political competition in areas where the ANC has lost support.
Any formal restructuring of municipal boundaries would require processes involving the Municipal Demarcation Board and could not be implemented simply through a party manifesto or internal party decision.
The debate comes less than three months before local government elections in which all three Gauteng metros are expected to be closely contested.
Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni have all experienced coalition government since no single party secured an outright majority in the 2021 municipal elections.
The immediate political significance of Mbalula’s clarification is that the ANC is separating the long-term municipal restructuring debate from the commitments on which it is asking voters to judge the party on 4 November.
Whether the “city region” concept develops into a formal ANC policy proposal is likely to become clearer after the election when the party holds its planned policy discussions.
