Landing to a hero’s welcome
The ANC’s local election campaign gathered momentum on Friday as mayoral hopeful Andile Lungisa arrived at Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport to a hero’s welcome from party leaders, members, supporters and ANC Youth League structures in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The reception came as the party moved closer to the announcement of its councillor candidates for all 60 wards, under the leadership of the Office of the ANC Secretary-General, led by Cde Fikile Mbalula, expected over the weekend.
A leader rooted in the region
A long-serving ANC leader with deep roots in working-class and youth politics, Lungisa is a former deputy president of the ANC Youth League and former chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency. He later returned to the Nelson Mandela region as an ANC NEC member and has remained vocal about transforming the city’s economic prospects. He has also served as a councillor and Member of the Mayoral Committee in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The message: organise where the ANC was strongest
At the airport, Lungisa said the ANC would need to pay close attention to the Lillian Diedericks Cluster, which he said used to be the strongest base of the ANC in the region.
His remarks reflected a more deliberate and organisationally focused campaign message as the party heads into the final phase before candidate announcements.
A day on the ground
Elsewhere in the city, ANC structures spent the day on the ground, expanding the campaign’s community-facing programme. ANC REC member Cde Yolisa Pali-Jongilanga joined Ward 26 volunteers in a Letsema campaign in Soweto-on-Sea, where the focus was on community service, active citizenship and building cleaner, stronger and more resilient communities through collective action.
Daku Hall: capacity and dignity
Later in the day, ANC NEC member Cde Andile Lungisa, alongside REC member Cde Nozipho Jodwana, addressed a sectoral programme led by the Phuhlisa Multipurpose NPO at Daku Hall. The programme aimed to empower, capacitate and celebrate persons living with visual impairments, while also creating greater awareness of the opportunities and challenges faced by people with disabilities.
The ANC said initiatives of this kind remain central to its commitment to placing vulnerable communities at the heart of development and building a society in which everyone can participate meaningfully.
In the wards
The day’s campaign activity continued at Ndzondelelo VD in Ward 27, where ANC REC members Cdes Itumeleng Ranyele and Yolisa Pali-Jongilanga, alongside ANCYL RET Coordinator Cde Amyoli Resha and Provincial Organising Unit Member Cde Sitha Munyaka, led a public meeting at the Velile Stemele Branch.
The engagement formed part of the ANC’s intensified election campaign and gave the party an opportunity to engage residents directly, hear concerns and strengthen organisational structures ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
The final phase
Together, the events reflected a party effort to combine high-profile leadership moments with sustained ground-level campaigning across Nelson Mandela Bay, with voters going to the polls on 4 November 2026.
From the airport arrivals hall to Soweto-on-Sea, Daku Hall and the wards, the ANC’s campaign is now running on both fronts: leadership in the spotlight, and organisation on the ground.
Follow the campaign record
The People’s Register reports the ANC’s Nelson Mandela Bay campaign from the ground, ward by ward.
Sources and further reading
This report draws on the ANC Nelson Mandela Region’s campaign programme and public reporting on the mayoral race.