Johannesburg mayor unseated as ANC regional chair

The African National Congress (ANC) has replaced its Johannesburg regional chairperson, Dada Morero, with Loyiso Masuku. 

The party’s 16th Regional Elective Conference took place at the Cedar Woods Hotel in Sandton from 3 to 5 December, where Morero was seeking to be appointed for a second term. 

Masuku was widely supported by many Johannesburg ANC branches and ultimately received the most votes. 

Voting was set to begin at 3 pm on Thursday, but only got underway in the early hours of Friday morning, after much debate.

Masuku received 184 votes, while Morero received 149. 

In addition to the new regional chairperson, the party also appointed new Deputy Chairperson Masilo Serekele, new Secretary Sasabona Manganya, new Deputy Secretary Lerato K Bob and new Treasurer Maxwell Nedzamba. 

The ANC said that this conference marks the beginning of its plan for the new year. This will be the “year of renewal” according to the party, in which the ANC will become “a more effective instrument of the people to achieve the vision of the Freedom Charter.”

Loyiso Masuku has served in multiple structures of the ANC, including the ANYL and the ANC Women’s League. 

She has served in the City of Ekurhuleni, the Gauteng Government, and is currently working as the Finance MMC for the City of Johannesburg. 

After becoming regional chairperson, it is likely that Masuku will be the ANC’s electoral candidate for Johannesburg in the 2026 local elections. 

If the ANC were to win the Johannesburg elections, she would stand to become the first female ANC mayor of Johannesburg. 

Masuku’s history of controversy

Masuku is the wife of former Health MEC Bandile Masuku. The couple came under fire in a controversial COVID-19 PPE scandal. 

According to News24, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) placed Masuku at the centre of tender irregularities in the provincial health department to the value of R125 million for personal protective equipment. 

The SIU found that “Masuku failed to execute his function in compliance with the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act.”

Masuku denied his involvement and approached the high court to have the findings declared unlawful. He was, however, unsuccessful, as the court ruled the SIU findings were sound. 

Loyiso Masuku was working in the group Corporate and Shared Services Portfolio at the time, and took a leave of absence while investigations were underway.

Current Johannesburg Mayor Morero has faced and survived a motion of no-confidence against him in 2025, and was threatened with another last month.

In a motion proposed by UDM, Al Jama-ah, the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and the African Heart Congress, the minority parties said that they were unsatisfied with Morero’s conduct. 

The parties made it clear, however, that their attack on Morero was not an attack on the ANC itself, saying “the ANC must give us another person.”