A lobbying push inside the MK Party (MKP) is building around Bongani Baloyi as a possible Johannesburg mayoral candidate ahead of the November 4 local government elections, with insiders arguing that his track record in municipal government gives the party its strongest shot at the metro. The debate has now spilled into the open, and it is beginning to shape how the MKP positions itself in one of the country’s most fiercely contested political battlegrounds.
Several party sources told us this week that there is a growing view within the MKP that Baloyi’s experience, especially his time as DA mayor of Midvaal, makes him a credible contender for Joburg. For a party trying to deepen its urban footprint, the argument is simple: the metro needs a familiar political operator with executive experience, not an unknown name parachuted in at the last minute.
If the internal lobbying succeeds, Baloyi would find himself in a bruising contest for Johannesburg’s top job against DA veteran Helen Zille and ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba. That alone would make the race one of the most closely watched in the country, with the capital of Gauteng once again turning into the centre of a national political showdown.
According to the Sunday Times, one of Baloyi’s key supporters is MKP MP and former chief whip Mzwanele Manyi. Party insiders say Manyi has been pushing the idea in internal MKP spaces, while Baloyi himself has been trying to keep a low profile as the chatter grows louder around him.
One senior MKP leader told the paper the discussion did not amount to an official endorsement. “This thing was started by Mzwanele Manyi in a group of the MKP … and Bongani doesn’t want to find himself in the crosshairs; I know he doesn’t like all of this unnecessary attention,” the leader said. The message from that camp is that the conversation is far from settled.
Baloyi has declined to be drawn into the speculation. Manyi did not respond to questions, and Baloyi said he had no comment. That silence has only fuelled more talk inside political circles, where every leadership move in the MKP is now being read as part of a broader strategy for the metros.
Baloyi’s name carries political weight for a reason. In 2013, he made history when he became South Africa’s youngest mayor, leading Midvaal municipality under the DA banner. During that period, the municipality was widely regarded as one of the better-run local governments in the country, recording two clean audits and earning praise for performance.
That record is one of the strongest arguments in his favour. In a city like Johannesburg, where service delivery failures and governance battles dominate the public conversation, the MKP is clearly looking for someone with administrative credibility as well as political visibility. Baloyi ticks those boxes for supporters who believe the party needs to project competence, not just opposition energy.
But his political journey has not been smooth. After leaving the DA, he moved briefly to ActionSA before launching his own party, Xiluva, which struggled to gain meaningful traction. He later crossed over to the MK Party, joining Jacob Zuma’s political project and eventually taking up the role of head of elections until March.
He is now part of the MKP’s high command structure, and party sources say Zuma is said to be fond of him. That relationship matters in a party where influence, loyalty and internal alignments can be just as important as public profile. It also explains why Baloyi’s name keeps surfacing in talks about the Johannesburg race.
MK Party Johannesburg mayoral candidate debate exposes deep internal fault lines
Still, not everyone in the MKP is convinced that Baloyi should be the face of the party in Johannesburg. Some within the movement are resisting the idea, arguing that the party must avoid appearing to impose leaders from above, especially in a city where grassroots mobilisation will be critical.
MKP MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela has made it clear that the party does not intend to announce candidates in a flashy, top-down manner. He said the party wants a process rooted in community participation, with imbizos used to identify preferred councillors and, ultimately, the mayoral candidate.
“We’re not going to do the Hollywood style of announcing big names,” Ndhlela said. “It must be organic; it must be such that it must be the communities who must lead them as councillors and ultimately their mayor. We are not going to have a top-down approach.”
That statement speaks to a larger tension inside the MKP: whether the party should lean on recognisable figures with governing experience, or stick to a more grassroots-driven method that avoids the appearance of elite selection. In Joburg, where political branding matters almost as much as policy, the choice could shape how the party performs at the polls.
Those opposing Baloyi’s nomination are also said to be uncomfortable with the optics of three former or current DA-linked political figures — Zille, Mashaba and Baloyi — potentially dominating the mayoral conversation. Their concern, according to insiders, is that the MKP should not be seen as helping advance a “DA agenda” simply by elevating a candidate with a Democratic Alliance past.
Even so, Baloyi still has influential defenders. One senior MKP leader described him as “competent and highly intelligent”, adding that he already has mayoral experience and should not be dismissed simply because he came into the party from elsewhere. “He’s been a mayor before, he’s got experience, he’s definitely a good comrade,” the leader said.
That argument reflects a practical political reality. Johannesburg is too important, and too broken in too many areas, for parties to treat the mayoral race as a symbolic exercise. Voters are likely to demand hard answers on governance, infrastructure, accountability and service delivery — issues that reward candidates who can speak from experience.
For now, though, the MK Party Johannesburg mayoral candidate is not yet settled. The party says it is still finalising its list, and the formal decision will only come after its internal processes play out. Until then, Baloyi remains a name in circulation rather than an official nominee.
What is already clear is that the MKP is treating Johannesburg as a prize worth fighting for. Whether it settles on Baloyi or another figure, the party’s eventual choice will reveal a lot about how it wants to be seen: as a movement of community-led politics, or as a serious challenger willing to gamble on proven administrative talent.