ANC takes IEC dispute to Electoral Court over missed candidate submissions

The African National Congress (ANC) has taken its dispute with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to the Electoral Court after the IEC excluded nominations that were not formally submitted by the August 28 deadline. The party will brief the media on its candidate nominations for the November 4 local government elections.

What the ANC is challenging

The ANC filed an application with the Electoral Court contesting the IEC’s decision to treat certain nominations as invalid because they were not formally submitted by the statutory deadline. In its court papers, the party argues that the word “submitted” in the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act should apply equally to nominations submitted by hand and electronically, and it wants affected party lists and ward nominations to be treated as having been lawfully and timeously submitted.

IEC position and scale of the problem

The IEC has maintained that candidates whose information was captured on its system but not formally submitted by the deadline cannot be included in the elections. The electoral body previously confirmed that 2,274 potential candidates from 45 political parties had their details captured but were not formally submitted 480 proportional representation candidates and 1,794 ward candidates.

Geographic impact and political implications

The dispute has affected ANC nominations in municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State, putting their participation in those contests at risk. The ANC’s upcoming media briefing is intended to update the public on its councillor candidates and election preparations.

Presidential comments and next steps

President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged the technical problems affecting candidate submissions and said the matter could be taken to the Electoral Court. He is quoted as saying:

“There were some glitches, glitches with regard to just the interface with the IEC system. The candidates’ list was there for the whole country. They were submitted, and in regard to those areas there were some glitches.”

Ramaphosa also said the issue was not limited to the ANC and called for a solution so technical difficulties would not prevent voters from choosing their preferred candidates. He said:

“This is not only affecting the ANC. There are a number of other parties (affected), I’m told 34. So there should be a solution to be found, because the technical glitches should not in the end deprive our people from being able to vote for their candidates.”

He added that “The Electoral Court, as a specialist institution, should be able to resolve the dispute.”

What happens now

The Electoral Court will consider the ANC’s application and the IEC’s position. The ANC has scheduled a media briefing to outline its candidate list status ahead of the November 4 local government elections.