Danny officially the ANC's mayoral candidate in the Bay

The ANC has officially announced Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Danny Jordaan as its mayoral candidate to lead the party to the August 3 local government elections.

It was announced during a press briefing after 11pm on Saturday (18/06/16) by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe who unveiled the names of the party's mayoral candidates for metropolitan municipalities and strategic local municipalities.

It followed a lengthy special National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which continued well into the night.

Journalists had been called to a briefing scheduled for 5pm at the St George's Hotel, in Tshwane, but the deliberations only ended after 11pm.

For other Eastern Cape municipalities, the ANC's national bosses also announced Xola Pakati as its mayoral candidate for Buffalo City Metro and Khunjuzwa Kekana will be the ANC's mayoral candidate for Sarah Baartman District Municipality  for a second term.

The announcement of Jordaan as mayoral candidate follows months of speculation and strong calls for him to be given another five years at the helm.

This week, the ANC's Bay regional task team coordinator Beza Ntshona said Jordaan was the only name put forward by the RTT, the party's alliance partners and leagues.

His name was forwarded to the provincial executive committee, which are the final decision makers. 

However, the province's decision was interrogated by the national executive committee (NEC) to ensure the candidates had the right skills and experience for the job.

Jordaan was deployed by the NEC to the metro in May last year to help turnaround the administration and stamp out corruption and inefficiencies. 

He replaced former mayor, 83-year-old Ben Fihla. 

Since Jordaan, his deputy Bicks Ndoni and chief whip Litho Suka came into office, the city's financial situation has stabilised and there has been a drive to lure more investments to the Bay.