South Africa: The Battle for Joburg - ANC Weighs Chikane, Makhura and Masuku to Take On Zille

With Johannesburg's future hanging in the balance, the ANC is considering three very different contenders - Frank Chikane, David Makhura and Loyiso Masuku - as it searches for a heavyweight capable of stopping Helen Zille's bid for the country's biggest city.

The race for Joburg: Could it end up being Helen Zille vs Frank Chikane? The veteran man of the cloth, anti-apartheid revolutionary and the chair of the ANC's Integrity Commission is leading the African National Congress's (ANC) primary slate of mayoral candidates for the City.

Deep reporting by the Daily Maverick shows that the party's top three candidates are Chikane; the former Gauteng premier, David Makhura; and the ANC's regional secretary and Johannesburg deputy mayor, Loyiso Masuku.

Chikane has been endorsed by the party's powerful Veterans League, its body of elders in Gauteng. Makhura is being lobbied to stand. He is regarded as a safe pair of hands and holds top jobs in the ANC: he is its head of political education, the convenor of how the party thinks about coalition government, and also the lead at its OR Tambo School of Leadership. The telegenic Masuku is the party's Johannesburg regional secretary and the deputy mayor.

"[Chikane] is a big name and can turn things around. Loyiso [Masuku] is a lightweight compared to [Helen] Zille [currently the lead candidate]. He is on the ANC local government task team," said a veteran supporting Chikane, who did not want to be quoted....

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