The Afrika Mayibuye Movement has named Apostle Musa Joshua Mohlala as its mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, as political parties continue to line up candidates ahead of the 4 November local government elections.
Mayibuye president Floyd Shivambu announced Mohlala in Philippi, Cape Town, on Wednesday.
The movement says Mohlala, who founded Shekinah Healing Ministries in Cape Town in 2003, brings more than two decades of experience in ministry and community organisation.
Mayibuye says his campaign will focus on jobs, water, land and dignified municipal services, while confronting what it describes as the continued exclusion of working-class communities.
The party has identified housing shortages, overcrowding, insecure tenure, unreliable water, sewer failures, electricity affordability, waste collection, deteriorating roads, flooding, public transport, crime and unemployment among Cape Town’s key challenges.
The movement is also demanding ward-level service delivery plans, publicly reported deadlines, transparent municipal contracts and procurement, and programmes aimed at creating jobs through infrastructure maintenance and local economic development.
Mayibuye’s growing mayoral slate
The Cape Town announcement follows Mayibuye’s earlier unveiling of candidates in Gauteng.
In September, the movement named retired Major General Prince Nkitsing Mokotedi as its candidate for Tshwane and entrepreneur and media personality Themba “Skeem GP” Lukhele Nzimande for Ekurhuleni.
The movement also announced Bishop Vincent Jones for Emfuleni, Apostle Buti Michael Nthako for Sedibeng District Municipality and Johannes Moatlhodi for Midvaal.
Johannesburg, however, remains the notable omission from Mayibuye’s publicly announced Gauteng mayoral slate. Shivambu previously confirmed that the movement had settled on a candidate for the country’s economic hub but had not disclosed the person’s identity.
That means Mayibuye’s eventual Johannesburg announcement could add another name to an already crowded contest for control of South Africa’s economic centre.
Johannesburg race
Johannesburg’s mayoral contest has attracted some of the biggest names in the 2026 local elections.
The Democratic Alliance has selected former Western Cape premier and former Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, while ActionSA is campaigning with its leader and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.
The Economic Freedom Fighters has chosen Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, a medical doctor and former United Nations special rapporteur, while the MK Party has selected former Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi.
The Patriotic Alliance is running with City of Johannesburg Transport MMC Kenny Kunene, while the IFP has selected Human Settlements MMC Mlungisi Mabaso. Rise Mzansi has named political analyst Lukhona Mnguni and BOSA has chosen Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster.
Al Jama-ah has also entered the race with Ashley Mama, a former ANC Youth League office bearer who has held leadership positions in the ANCYL and Young Communist League.
The United Democratic Movement has named Yongama Zigebe, while other smaller parties are also contesting the metro.
ANC faces uncertainty
The ANC’s Johannesburg candidate remains complicated by its national mayoral selection process.
The party initially shortlisted incumbent mayor Dada Morero, deputy mayor Loyiso Masuku and ANC veteran Reverend Frank Chikane.
However, Chikane was subsequently left off the ANC’s final candidate list. The party has described his omission as an administrative error, while the issue has triggered further controversy within the organisation.
Masuku currently sits at the top of the ANC’s Johannesburg proportional representation list, followed by Musiiwa Maxwell Nedzamba, Nomoya Daphney Mnisi, Morero and Sibongile Eunice Mgcina. Chikane does not appear on the final PR list.
This leaves the ANC heading into the final weeks of campaigning without the same clarity over its Johannesburg mayoral candidate enjoyed by several opposition parties.
A fragmented battle for City Hall
The stakes are particularly high because Johannesburg is unlikely to produce an easy outright winner.
The 2021 municipal election already produced a fragmented council, and the metro has subsequently experienced shifting coalitions and changes in political leadership. In South Africa, voters elect councillors rather than directly electing the mayor. After the election, the newly constituted council elects the mayor.
That makes the mayoral candidates effectively the faces of their parties’ campaigns, but their ability to actually take City Hall will ultimately depend on the number of seats their parties win and the coalitions they can build after the election.
For Mashaba, the contest represents an attempt to return to the position he held between 2016 and 2019. Zille, meanwhile, is bringing a high-profile national political record to the race, while Mofokeng, Baloyi, Mnguni, Kunene and the other candidates are seeking to persuade voters that their parties can provide an alternative to years of political instability and service-delivery problems.
Against that backdrop, Mayibuye’s yet-to-be-revealed Johannesburg candidate could become an important addition to an increasingly crowded field — particularly as the movement attempts to translate its rapid expansion into electoral support in the country’s largest metro.
The local government elections will be held on 4 November.
