EKURHULENI, Thursday 3 September 2026 — The ANC has accepted Jongizizwe Dlabathi’s resignation as its Ekurhuleni regional secretary, forcing the party to appoint an acting organiser in one of South Africa’s most competitive metropolitan municipalities two months before the 4 November local government elections.
Dlabathi, who remains the City of Ekurhuleni’s MMC for Finance, informed ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula that he had chosen to relinquish the full-time regional secretary position and continue with his municipal responsibilities.
The decision follows an ANC National Executive Committee directive requiring regional secretaries to serve in their party positions on a full-time basis.
Mbalula said the directive, communicated on 29 May, required regional secretaries holding other employment to choose between those positions and their full-time organisational responsibilities.
Dlabathi opted to remain in municipal government.
In correspondence reported by TimesLIVE, he said he had considered whether to remain a full-time regional secretary or continue with other employment and had decided to step away from the party position.
Mbalula subsequently accepted the resignation and instructed the ANC’s Ekurhuleni regional executive committee to convene within seven days.
The REC must formally process the resignation and designate an acting regional secretary from among members who are available to perform the role on a full-time basis.
That person is expected to remain acting regional secretary until the ANC’s next Ekurhuleni regional conference.
The resignation is politically significant because the regional secretary is responsible for much of the party’s organisational administration and campaign coordination in Ekurhuleni.
The metro is expected to be one of the major battlegrounds in November’s municipal elections.
The ANC does not hold an outright majority in the council and has governed through shifting relationships with other parties during the current term.
Dlabathi’s latest resignation is also the second time this year that he has attempted to leave the regional secretary position.
In February, he resigned both as regional secretary and as finance MMC amid political tensions following changes to Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza’s mayoral committee and the EFF’s withdrawal from the governing arrangement.
The regional executive committee initially accepted that resignation.
National ANC structures subsequently intervened and ordered Dlabathi to return to both roles, with the party saying his continued participation was required as part of efforts to stabilise the region and municipality.
The present resignation differs because national leadership has formally accepted Dlabathi’s decision to leave the regional secretary position while allowing him to remain finance MMC.
That leaves the party facing an organisational leadership transition during the final phase of its municipal campaign.
Dlabathi also occupies a strategically important government portfolio.
As finance MMC, he is responsible for oversight of Ekurhuleni’s budget and financial administration in a metropolitan municipality with a multibillion-rand operating and capital programme.
His decision therefore separates the ANC’s senior regional organisational leadership from one of its most influential municipal executive positions.
The ANC has not yet announced who will serve as acting regional secretary.
That appointment will be closely watched because the acting secretary will help coordinate candidate deployment, campaign structures and regional political organisation ahead of the election.
With Ekurhuleni expected to produce another fragmented council, internal organisational stability could prove important to the ANC’s attempt to retain influence in the metro and strengthen its position in any post-election coalition negotiations.
