LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026: Loyiso Masuku promises culture shift in Joburg, says ANC could have done better

Loyiso Masuku is calling for a fundamental shift in Johannesburg’s administrative culture, promising greater accountability among municipal officials and councillors as she emerges as a contender to lead a city grappling with financial pressures and persistent service delivery issues.

As the City’s deputy mayor and MMC for finance in an ANC-led administration seeking another mandate in the 4 November local government elections, her pitch raises a central question for voters: what would she do differently?

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Masuku argued that improving Johannesburg required officials to take public service seriously, hold councillors accountable, strengthen political oversight and make greater use of technology.

“Our employees firstly have to understand that it’s not about going to work and then just get a paycheck; it’s about service to the people,” she said.

The ANC hasn’t announced mayoral candidates and instead listed potential candidates. In Joburg, it named Masuku, current Mayor Dada Morero and party veteran Reverend Frank Chikane.

Masuku acknowledged that the ANC could have handled aspects of governance better amid scrutiny over Joburg’s decline under the party’s watch.

“We’ve reflected. We’ve acknowledged the weaknesses,” she said.

She said the party had diagnosed its shortcomings and was returning to communities to explain its programme of action. However, she maintained that the ANC needed a sole mandate to implement its plans without coalition constraints.

ANC’s case for another term

Masuku defended the ANC’s record, citing the commissioning of reservoirs to improve water supply, disciplinary action over wasteful expenditure, and efforts to ring-fence funding for City Power.

“These reports that we’ve taken to council are an indication of our commitment to make sure that we have a well-run city,” she said.

She argued that the ANC had begun addressing Joburg’s problems despite coalition constraints, and an outright majority would give it full scope to implement its five-year plan. The ANC governs the city in a coalition with the EFF, Patriotic Alliance and other smaller parties.

The ANC has relied on coalitions since the 2021 elections, when it secured 33.6% of the vote in Johannesburg, followed by the DA with 26.47% and ActionSA with 16.05%. No party won an outright majority, ushering in a period of coalition negotiations and political instability.

Incumbent Mayor Dada Morero was elected in August 2024, leading a Government of Local Unity coalition that has faced internal friction and repeated threats of no-confidence motions.

Masuku urged residents to judge the party on what it could achieve with a full mandate without coalition compromises.

She said that if the ANC fell short, national leadership would manage coalition negotiations, pointing to the Government of National Unity (GNU) as a model.

Yet the call for another mandate comes as the City continues to suffer financial and service delivery crises, leaving unaddressed which issues she attributes to coalition friction and which require internal ANC reforms.

Three polls have predicted the ANC will fall short of a majority, with two of those polls putting the DA ahead of the ANC. Each poll suggests no party will win a majority on 4 November.

Accountability must start with councillors

Masuku explained that voters voiced clear expectations during ANC campaigning: reliable basic services, functional infrastructure, economic opportunities and accessible representatives.

Recounting discussions with women-owned logistics and wine transport businesses, she highlighted how poor road infrastructure directly hindered commerce and increased maintenance costs.

But Masuku also highlighted the relationship between councillors and the communities they represented.

She stressed that residents expected councillors to remain visible after elections, explaining timelines and setbacks transparently.

“I’m going to push in your community,” she said of the commitments councillors should make to residents.

“And when there are challenges, call the community. Explain to them the timelines. Don’t be quiet and not explain,” she said, adding that public representatives had to be monitored to ensure regular community meetings and advance notice for service interruptions such as water outages.

Masuku also urged political leaders to motivate staff, foster institutional pride and enforce consequences when services fell short.

“We have to change the culture and the accountability,” she said.

She emphasised that residents were too often left uninformed about municipal programmes and disruptions.

“You can do anything and everything, but if people are not taken through your programme and understand, [they won’t] buy into it,” she said.

Financial discipline, she said, was equally crucial.

“Use money for what it is meant for,” she said, referring to Johannesburg’s R97.1-billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year.

In its 2026/27 budget presentation, the City reported that revenue collection dropped to 86% from 88.6%, citing illegal connections, billing errors and revenue leakage. In May, Masuku further revealed that electricity distribution losses stood at 27% and non-revenue water losses exceeded 40%, with infrastructure backlogs surpassing R185-billion.

These deficits have drawn criticism from the National Treasury over compliance and the City’s financial viability. While recovery plans are in place, the scale of the problems makes implementation central to the election campaign.

The pressure on municipal finances

As finance MMC, Masuku identified improving revenue collection as her immediate priority should she be elected mayor. She highlighted collecting billed revenue, pursuing defaulting businesses and government departments, and curbing illegal connections.

“We have to do better in terms of revenue collection,” she said, “Once we bill, we must collect what we bill.”

Masuku said a civic culture of paying for services was vital to sustaining municipal infrastructure.

However, she acknowledged that not all residents could afford their municipal accounts.

For indigent households, she pointed to the Expanded Social Package (ESP) and the City’s debt rehabilitation programme, allowing residents to structure repayments while settling current consumption.

Under this process, customers can engage officials, acknowledge debt, and agree to repayment plans.

“If you have a challenge when you are supposed to pay, come forward and talk to the City and not stay away,” she said.

Asked whether residents were aware of these options, Masuku noted her radio interviews and roadshows, but admitted public awareness had to expand.

Masuku’s focus on revenue recovery will be tested against whether the City can improve collection while addressing billing disputes and infrastructure losses.

Water, electricity and safety

Masuku outlined water, electricity, revenue recovery, public safety and job creation as core priorities.

Refusing to rank water above electricity, she said both required urgent intervention, pointing specifically to transformer failures caused by network overloading from illegal connections.

To bolster safety, she proposed partnering with provincial authorities on infrastructure and deploying 10 JMPD officers per ward alongside basic urban maintenance.

While her goals align with voter concerns, Masuku did not outline explicit, measurable targets or detailed timelines for her first 100 days.

Controversies surrounding her rise

Masuku’s call for stronger accountability comes amid controversies that have touched her political sphere.

In 2020, her husband, Bandile Masuku, was removed as Gauteng health MEC after the Special Investigating Unit found he failed to exercise appropriate oversight concerning Covid-19 PPE procurement irregularities.

The investigation focused on a R125-million contract awarded to a company linked to the late Thandisizwe Diko, husband of former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko and a family friend to the Masukus.

The SIU’s findings concerned Bandile Masuku’s oversight as health MEC, with no finding that Loyiso Masuku influenced or benefited from the contract.

The SIU found no basis for criminal or civil action against him, though the Pretoria high court subsequently dismissed his application to review the report.

Separately, her election as ANC regional chairperson in December 2025 faces a legal challenge over alleged electoral process irregularities.

Mayoralty is not a ‘personal ambition’

Despite being the first female regional chairperson of the ANC in Joburg, Masuku told Daily Maverick that becoming mayor was never a personal ambition.

She was elected regional chairperson in December 2025, defeating Morero by 184 votes to 149, positioning her as a leading contender in the party’s mayoral selection process.

Having served in public administration before becoming a councillor a decade ago, Masuku emphasised that her focus remained on serving wherever deployed.

“I’ve always believed that you can contribute wherever you serve,” she said.

She said that she would accept another role if directed by the party, noting the mayoral selection process was about the ANC’s programme rather than individuals.

Her remarks come amid frustration over the ANC’s delayed announcement of its mayoral candidate from the shortlist featuring Morero, Masuku and Chikane.

By mid-October, with weeks to go before the election, the lack of an announcement has created campaign uncertainty.

Daily Maverick understands some party insiders had hoped the ANC would name Masuku early to allow her to campaign directly as mayoral candidate.

Masuku dismissed concerns that the delay undermined the campaign, maintaining focus had to remain on the party manifesto.

A path for women in leadership

Masuku further reflected on how her outlook was shaped by growing up in Johannesburg, raised by a single mother from the Eastern Cape, and early experiences with race and inequality.

She recalled attending a multiracial school in 1996 when the Constitution was launched there and “they needed a black face in the picture”, prompting her to question why racial representation had to be orchestrated.

“Why should it be choreographed? Why shouldn’t it be automatic that we are one?” she recalled asking.

She said the experience sparked questions about inequality and racial differentiation.

Masuku later joined student politics, the ANCYL, and the ANCWL, citing struggle icons Albertina Sisulu and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela as key influences.

Describing herself as an activist, she noted political work required active community presence rather than distant observation.

She added that women in leadership still faced significant barriers and often had to work harder than men to prove themselves.

Reflecting on becoming the Johannesburg ANC’s first female regional chairperson, she acknowledged the path was challenging.

“Becoming the first female chairperson, that road on its own was not easy,” she said. “There are certain hurdles even in the ANC that you have to pass.”

She urged female leaders not to settle for being the sole women’s voice, but to actively pave the way for others.

“When you are there in that position, always remember how you got there and how you must pave the way for others,” she said.

Asked what her position as the first female regional chairperson should mean to younger women, she offered a simple message: “It’s possible. It is very possible. There is nothing girls or women cannot do.” DM