Babalwa Lobishe

She chairs the African National Congress, a party that reference works place at the centre to centre-left, in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. She was one of three names the regional executive put forward for the ANC's mayoral nomination for the 2026 local election, and is named in the race for Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay in the 4 November 2026 municipal election.

Career

Lobishe was deputy mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay before the council elected her mayor, uncontested, on 31 October 2024, following the resignation of her predecessor Gary van Niekerk. She is also the ANC's regional chair in the metro. In May 2026 the ANC's regional executive submitted her among three nominees for the mayoral candidacy for the 2026 local government election, alongside chief whip Wandisile Jikeka and Buyelwa Mafaya, with the selection process due to conclude between June and July 2026.

Controversies

In 2026 Lobishe appeared before the ANC's provincial integrity committee over the municipality's 2025 lease of a R25 million transformer to Coega Steels. She said a former acting city manager had misled her into signing the agreement without a council resolution. Daily Maverick reports that the commission found no pending case or investigation against her and that she acted to protect more than 600 jobs; The Herald reports she was cleared in March, while some regional members noted the report had not been formally tabled to the region. On 31 March 2026 she survived two no-confidence motions in council.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. The Herald · Daily Maverick · EWN · Wikipedia