GLOVES ARE OFF: ANCYL SAYS MBALULA MUST GO-LEAKED LETTER: MBALULA TOLD TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM BUFFALO CITY
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
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BUFFALO CITY -ANC Youth League Regional Chairperson Loyiso Mkubelo says ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula must go. He must recuse himself from the Buffalo City mayoral processes. Now.
That is in a leaked letter dated 30 October 2026, seen by The Azanian, addressed to Mbalula, the National Officials and the NEC. Mkubelo writes: "we respectfully submit that you should recuse yourself from any direct involvement in the Buffalo City mayoral candidate process, given the serious concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest and the perception of partiality."
Why must he go? Because Mkubelo says he is biased. He is not neutral. He cannot run a fair process.
At the ANC mini rally in Zwelitsha, ANC Regional Chairperson Princess Faku publicly declared her support for Mbalula to contest for ANC President at the 2027 National Conference, and committed all branches in Dr WB Rubusana to him.
Mbalula said NOTHING. The same Mbalula who always reprimands branches for premature succession talk. "Your silence on the pronouncements made by the Regional Chairperson is concerning."
One woman anoints Mbalula for President. Mbalula stays silent. The same woman is pushed as the preferred mayoral candidate for Buffalo City. Mkubelo says that is factionalism, not coincidence.
Mkubelo also accuses Mbalula of calling provincial leaders "witches" at the OR Tambo Memorial Lecture in Alfred Nzo Region.
"Such language is unbecoming of the office of the Secretary-General and risks bringing the organisation into disrepute."
He accuses Mbalula of bringing the mayoral selection process into disrepute, and warns he risks contempt of court over the PEC matter.
Mkubelo says three other mayoral candidates, Ncedo Kumbaca, Piya Dzengwa and Nocawe Mafu, have been marginalised, isolated and sabotaged while Faku is favoured.
No briefing. No resources. No deployment. Not invited to campaign events, including the Zwelitsha rally Mbalula attended. When they campaign on their own, they are sabotaged.
The RET WhatsApp group promotes only Faku as 'incoming mayor'. Those who post the others are ejected. BCM state resources are allegedly used for Faku's factional campaign."I do have evidence of what is stated above," Mkubelo writes.
Mkubelo says the ANCYL in Dr WB Rubusana is marginalised, excluded from ANC REC meetings, replaced by other PYA components, and branches are threatened not to accommodate ANCYL programmes.
He says Faku has blatantly refused to participate in all public debates. Instead REC/RET fields Sakhi Caga, Thulani Tempi and Afrika Maxongo, denying voters the chance to see Ncedo, Piya and Nocawe.
Mkubelo says it is a lie to call Buffalo City stable under Faku. Adverse audits. SCOPA concerns. Billing system broken. Darkness from broken streetlights. Roads collapsed. Taps dry, people depend on water tankers. Services outsourced.
He raises blankets and grocery parcels distributed through programmes linked to regional leadership, with beneficiaries allegedly chosen by proximity to leaders, not need. He calls for an end to patronage.
He says members are leaving to smaller parties because of purging from Regional Conference and councillor selection. The Regional Conference legitimacy is in court.
While Buffalo City burns, Mbalula collapsed during a media briefing at the Constitutional Court recently after the ANC won its legal battle against the IEC over its candidate lists.
Speaking at Luthuli House recently, Mbalula said he had carried something heavy for seven weeks as the ANC fought to have 181 candidates reinstated on its lists for the November local government elections."I had carried something heavy for seven weeks," Mbalula said. "The thought that people in six municipalities might be handed a ballot paper that did not carry the party they had chosen ... that thought sat on my chest every night."
The court upheld the ANC appeal against the exclusion of 181 candidates, paving the way for them to appear on the ballot.
Mbalula said the ANC had complied with the law and should not be penalised because of a technical requirement in the IEC system. "A button inside a computer programme is not the law. It appears in no act, no regulation, no government gazette."
He said doctors have examined him thoroughly and he is fit as a fiddle and ready to return to work.But the court battles are not over.
In Johannesburg High Court, NEC member Andile Lungisa has challenged his removal from the ANC Proportional Representation candidate list for Nelson Mandela Bay ahead of the local government elections.
Lungisa argues his name emerged through the party internal nomination process and he was ranked first on the NMB list. He alleges Mbalula personally instructed officials to remove him, arguing the Secretary-General lacked constitutional authority to overturn a process completed through ANC structures.
Mbalula has rejected the allegation under oath. He says he did not personally order Lungisa removal and instead acted on an instruction from the ANC Electoral Committee. He maintains Lungisa did not participate in the required candidate vetting process.
Now the ANC has issued a formal statement, dated 09 October 2026, on the Lungisa judgment. The ANC notes the judgment handed down by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg concerning the removal of Comrade Andile Lungisa from the ANC proportional representation candidate list for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
While respecting the independence of the judiciary and the constitutional authority of the courts, the ANC has resolved to appeal the judgment, as it raises fundamental questions concerning the organisational autonomy of political parties and their authority to regulate internal democratic processes.
The ANC maintains that selection of candidates for public office is an organisational responsibility governed by its Constitution, established guidelines and collective decision-making structures.The statement was issued by Mahlengi Bhengu, National Spokesperson.
This is the same Lungisa matter that Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane said must be taken out of court."The issue of Andile cannot be an issue that becomes something that is portrayed as a mess in the African National Congress," Mokonyane said. "The best is to get it out of court."
But the ANC is now appealing. The court fight continues.
When these events are placed side by side, they raise serious questions about leadership style and decision making at the top.Buffalo City. Nelson Mandela Bay. The PEC matter. The IEC list matter. The 181 candidates. The collapse at the Constitutional Court. The Lungisa case. The appeal. The "witches" remark. The silence for Faku.
The record shows a growing reliance on the courts to resolve internal ANC matters. The record shows repeated challenges to the authority of the Secretary-General's office. The record shows concerns from within the movement itself about whether internal processes are being handled in a consultative and even-handed manner.
These are not the words of this publication. They are the questions emerging from the documents, the court papers, the public statements and the leaked letter itself.
Mkubelo letter is therefore not an isolated complaint. It forms part of a wider pattern that many in the movement are now asking the NEC to examine calmly and urgently.
Mkubelo demands the NEC investigate factionalism, purging, marginalisation of ANCYL, unequal treatment of candidates, blankets patronage, governance collapse, and ensure the SG office stays impartial.
He closes: "Loyalty to the organisation must never be confused with silence in the face of organisational decay, injustice and practices that undermine the very values upon which the movement was founded." Signed: Cde Loyiso Mkubelo, ANCYL Regional Chairperson, Dr WB Rubusana Region.
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