The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) Port St Johns Sub-Regional Task Team has thrown its support behind local ANC branches that refused to be addressed by members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), amid an escalating dispute over the party’s candidate lists for the upcoming local government elections. The youth structure has also called for ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula to step down, arguing that accountability is required over the failure to successfully submit a number of ANC candidates in Port St Johns. The dispute centres on the ANC’s candidate nomination process ahead of the 4 November 2026 local government elections. Reports indicate that the party failed to submit 20 ward candidates and 19 proportional representation candidates in Port St Johns. The ANCYL said local branches were justified in refusing to listen to visiting NWC officials because they had expected clear answers about whether the affected candidate lists had been properly submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). According to the youth league, local structures also wanted assurances that Mbalula would be held accountable for the administrative failure before they would engage with national officials. The ANCYL's position adds another layer to growing internal pressure on the ANC leadership. Earlier reports indicated that some members of the ANC's National Executive Committee had also demanded accountability from Mbalula following the candidate-list controversy. The youth league has reportedly referred to the ANC's own 2026 Local Government Elections Guidelines, particularly provisions dealing with the responsibility of the secretary-general in submitting and uploading candidate names to the IEC system. It has further raised concerns about the impact on young people, saying more than 70% of the affected Port St Johns candidates were young people. The youth structure argues that their exclusion could have serious consequences for youth participation in local government. Noordhoek: 2026 hearing aids disrupting the market The hearing aid for clear understanding - ideal for people over 50 hear.com South Africa by TaboolaSponsored Links The dispute comes as the ANC attempts to resolve the broader candidate-list crisis through legal and internal processes. The IEC has maintained that candidates affected by the dispute were captured on its system but were not finally submitted before the 28 August deadline, while the ANC has disputed the commission's position and attributed the problem to a technical issue. Mbalula has faced criticism from some senior ANC figures over the controversy but has rejected suggestions that he should personally carry the blame. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu has also defended the party's internal processes and called on anyone with evidence of wrongdoing to present it. For the ANCYL's Port St Johns task team, however, the issue has become one of accountability and representation. Its decision to back the local branches signals growing dissatisfaction at grassroots level over how the candidate-list process was handled. The call for Mbalula to step down now places additional pressure on the ANC leadership as it prepares for the local government elections and continues efforts to resolve the candidate-registration dispute. follow me please #dailysun #sabc1 #trending #breakingnews #goviral - @aagvgu.co.za