Ekurhuleni mayor Duma Nkosi has reportedly resigned following pressure from provincial ANC officials.
According to a highly placed source in the Ekurhuleni region, this will be the first of many senior officials' resignations.
The source, who did not want to be named, said Nkosi was asked for his resignation on Sunday by the Ekurhuleni regional council.
This was after a report which looked into the governance of all six regions of Gauteng was published by the provincial general council of the ANC.
The provincial political report said "it found the Ekurhuleni mayor to be incompetent".
The report, which is said to be partly written by the Provincial-Secretary of the ANC, David Makhura, said the ANC felt there was an "incapacity of the current leadership to go to the election next year".
This incapacity included, among others, issues with the non-political deployment of senior positions and land distribution decisions.
Nkosi's letter of resignation was received at 8.30pm on Tuesday night.
It said he was being pressured on all fronts to resign, and after consulting his friends inside the ANC, he had decided to quit.
Izak Berg, chairperson of the Independent Ratepayers' Association of South Africa, said he also heard that Nkosi had tendered his resignation.
"I think it is months too late. He should have been out a long time ago. He should not be the only one out; it should be him and the city manager (Patrick Flusk).
Berg said the ANC had been gunning for Nkosi for several months now after the mayor campaigned for President Thabo Mbeki in the run-up to the Polokwane conference.