ANC says rigorous vetting and an IEC system issue explain late councillor submissions

The ANC has blamed internal vetting procedures and an excluded upload batch for its late submission of councillor candidates to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), while the IEC says it will not reopen its system.

Party points to stringent screening

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the party had undertaken a “very robust” vetting process as part of its candidate selection and renewal work. She said the party had been uploading candidates on the final day available but that “the problem began when the final portion of its lists was being submitted.”

Bhengu described the vetting as focused on collecting identity numbers and minimising error margins. She said a “batch that was kicked out” contained the final portion of the lists and that the remainder of the candidate list had been uploaded on the same day.

Which areas were affected

The ANC said the affected batch included candidates from parts of the Eastern Cape, one municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and one metropolitan municipality in the Free State (Mangaung). The party has asked the IEC to consider candidates who had already been captured in the IEC system with the applicable accompanying documents.

ANC requests investigation; IEC stands firm

Bhengu said the ANC is requesting “an investigation whether there were technological failures that may not have been foreseen or anticipated or whether the reason for the malfunction may very well be other reasons”. She said the party is not fighting with the IEC and called for “a constructive engagement and an investigation”.

The IEC has denied that its systems experienced glitches on 28 August and noted that political parties had two months to submit their lists before the deadline. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said:

“The ANC requested confirmation that their candidates were not submitted in certain municipalities because they wanted to be sure that indeed that was the case, and the commission so confirmed. The commission has never entertained any possibility to open the system for any one party, and as our statement indicated yesterday, the commission does not have an intention even at this point to open the system.”

Where things stand

The ANC says it is seeking clarity and a probe into the excluded batch, while the IEC has maintained it will not reopen or otherwise alter access to its system. Both parties have stated their positions publicly as the deadline dispute remains unresolved.