CAPE TOWN, Tuesday 1 September 2026 — ANC councillor Anele Gabuza has launched an urgent Western Cape High Court application seeking to stop the Electoral Commission of South Africa from certifying Yanga Mjingwana as the party’s candidate in Cape Town’s Ward 98, escalating an internal candidate-selection dispute into litigation two months before the local government elections.
Gabuza, the sitting African National Congress councillor for Ward 98, is asking the court to interdict the IEC from finalising and publishing Mjingwana’s candidature for the 4 November 2026 local government elections while he pursues a review of the ANC’s decision.
The application names the ANC, its National Executive Committee, Western Cape Provincial Task Team, Electoral Committee, Provincial List Committee, Mjingwana and the IEC as respondents.
Gabuza is also seeking an order preventing ANC structures from confirming or ratifying Mjingwana’s nomination and wants Mjingwana removed from the candidate list pending the outcome of his review application.
The dispute is significant because it concerns the candidate-selection process in Cape Town, one of South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities, at a point when parties are finalising their teams for November’s election.
It also comes amid wider disputes over the ANC’s Western Cape candidate lists and defections involving sitting councillors.
Gabuza alleges in his court papers that he emerged as the preferred candidate following the final branch process but that Mjingwana was subsequently selected.
He argues that the ANC did not adequately explain why his nomination and the branch meeting outcome were disregarded.
Those claims form part of Gabuza’s court application and have not been determined by the High Court.
He further alleges that Mjingwana does not satisfy the ANC’s eligibility and vetting requirements.
The ANC disputes Gabuza’s position and says it will oppose the application.
ANC Western Cape spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said the party was not reconsidering its decision.
Mtsweni said the ANC’s candidate-selection process required candidates to demonstrate community support rather than relying solely on support at branch meetings.
The litigation comes at a particularly sensitive stage of the election timetable.
Gabuza said in his affidavit that he understood the IEC’s candidate-substitution window to remain open until 11 September, arguing that his challenge therefore required urgent determination before candidate lists are finalised.
He is ultimately asking the court to set aside the ANC’s selection of Mjingwana and either declare Gabuza the lawful candidate or require the party to restart its selection process.
No finding has yet been made on those requests.
The Ward 98 dispute adds to a series of candidate-list tensions affecting the ANC in the Western Cape.
The party has already sought the removal of councillors in Cape Town and other Western Cape municipalities after discovering that some incumbents had appeared on candidate lists submitted by rival parties.
Separately, the ANC has moved to recall SACP Western Cape provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu from the provincial legislature after the South African Communist Party decided to contest the municipal elections independently.
The SACP has indicated that it intends to challenge Ngqentsu’s removal politically and legally.
The growing disputes illustrate the pressure the ANC’s candidate-selection process is placing on its Western Cape organisation as it simultaneously confronts defections and, for the first time in the democratic era, an independent municipal-election challenge from the SACP.
The Ward 98 litigation is particularly relevant because it directly asks a court to intervene before the IEC certifies a candidate.
The High Court’s handling of the application could therefore determine who represents the ANC on the ballot in the ward and provide an early indication of how courts approach late-stage challenges to party candidate-selection processes during the 2026 election timetable.
