The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has been the latest party to announce its mayoral candidate, and it is Cheslyn Steenberg, who has already been representing the party in the City Council for a number of years.
Image: Facebook/Supplied
While the date for the 2026 Local Government Elections has yet to be set, more political parties are hitting the ground running to build momentum and support by announcing mayoral candidates and their election plans.
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has been the latest party to announce its mayoral candidate, and it is Cheslyn Steenberg, who has already been representing the party in the City Council for a number of years.
PA leader, Gayton McKenzie, said that when they first campaigned in the City, they had a different councillor candidate in mind for Kensington, but the secretary-general persuaded him to just meet a young man.
“I met Cheslyn Steenberg at the Waterfront for lunch. He was very nervous because his pals were sweating. We started talking, and I was hugely impressed. I saw a future leader instantly. I did door-to-door with him, and the people loved him. He won the Kensington by-election, which was the first ward in the City of Cape Town won by the PA.”
McKenzie shared how Steenberg became the Chief Whip of the PA in council and will now campaign as the party's mayoral candidate in the highly contested Cape Town metro.
“Young people grow in the PA, Cheslyn is facing his biggest opportunity, which is the task to change the lives of our people on the ground. My advice to him is to genuinely work the ground, don’t do social media videos using poor people to make you feel important, genuinely help children in distress without bringing cameras and showing the faces of children, and protect kids all the time.
“Run a vibey campaign, include everyone. We will win Cape Town with you at the helm.”
Steenberg said that when he heard the announcement, he could think of no other thing than, “thank you, Lord, for breaking the generational barriers my bloodline is linked to”.
“This nomination will not boost me but enhance the purpose I have to serve the people of this metro - irrespective of skin colour, language, political affiliation, gender, sexuality or creed.”
“As we pull up our sleeves and hit the ground running, we do so unified and disciplined yet focused as patriots in this metro. The ground will talk - let us just do our part with dignity and humility.”
The African National Congress’s Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, announced the party’s election plans on Monday at Luthuli House, saying that they are in the process of finalising mayoral candidates for metros and secondary cities, a process expected to be completed by June.
Mbalula emphasised that the party has not hesitated to change mayors where leadership challenges or "ill-discipline" occurred, referencing instances where members voted with the opposition.
He added that they want the best candidates and are not scared to look beyond their current memberships.
“We want the best of the best. What the ANC is considering, in terms of its framework, of course, we're looking inside, but we have opened up to the public.”
He mentioned how for the City of Johannesburg, they want the public to tell them who they want to become the mayoral candidate.
“That's what we have said, and the ANC will then look into that in terms of its framework, whether to go beyond just membership. We are already doing that,” Mbalula said.
“With the local government councillors, we have selected some of the best councillors at the ward level, simply because the community says we believe in this person. We believe that this person will serve us, and the majority of them have done a good job on the ground.
“We are going to follow that same pattern. But our framework is very clear; we will go for the best, and we are not confining ourselves to who got elected,” Mbalula said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will announce their next wave of Western Cape mayoral candidates on Tuesday. The DA have already announced two groups of mayoral candidates.
It is expected that newly-elected DA Federal Leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, will be retaining his current role and running as the party’s mayoral candidate. The party officials have previously said that they will make that announcement when they have completed internal party mechanisms.
Tuesday’s announcement will also be attended by DA Federal Chairperson, Solly Msimanga, DA Western Cape Leader, Tertuis Simmers, and DA Western Cape Chairperson, Jaco Londt.
While ActionSA’s Dereleen James has been on the ground in communities visiting Mitchells Plain and Bonteheuwel, the party has not yet made a formal announcement of its mayoral candidate.
ActionSA spokesperson, Matthew George, said: “ActionSA has not announced our mayoral candidate for Cape Town. We are planning a massive event in May.”
The National Coloured Congress recently announced Ellen Pakkies as its Cape Town mayoral candidate. Pakkies said her mayoral bid is about fighting for the people of Cape Town’s forgotten communities.
Good Party said that they will announce their candidate when they are ready.
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za