ANC could disappear from the ballot in these strongholds
JOHANNESBURG — The Electoral Commission of South Africa has rejected the ANC’s claim that a technical glitch prevented it from submitting candidates for six municipalities, telling the Electoral Court that its own records show the governing party simply ran out of time.
The dispute could leave the ANC without candidates on either the ward or proportional representation ballots in some municipalities when South Africans vote in the local government elections on 4 November.
The ANC approached the Electoral Court after failing to finalise candidate lists before the 5pm deadline on 28 August. It maintains that technical problems with the IEC’s Online Candidate Nomination System prevented administrators from completing submissions that had already been captured.
But in an answering affidavit, chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said system records showed no downtime during the period identified by the ANC.
The IEC said the ANC was still working on candidate lists shortly before the deadline and successfully submitted lists for Inxuba Yethemba municipality at 4.56pm and 4.57pm, evidence it argues contradicts claims that the system was unavailable.
Mamabolo said the ANC left the final submission process too late and must bear responsibility for failing to complete it.
The consequences are potentially significant.
The six municipalities at the centre of the case are Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu Natal and Mangaung in the Free State.
Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns could be particularly damaging for the ANC. The party stands to have no candidate on either ballot in the two municipalities despite both traditionally being ANC strongholds.
The dispute turns partly on the distinction between capturing candidate information and formally submitting it.
Nationally, 142,072 candidates were nominated for the elections, while another 2,274 candidates from 45 parties were captured on the IEC system but never submitted as final. The Commission maintains those candidates were therefore never legally nominated.
The ANC argues that candidate information already uploaded before the deadline should be regarded as submitted and says it is not seeking to introduce new candidates after the cut off.
The DA has applied to intervene in the case, arguing that allowing the ANC’s candidates onto the ballot would disadvantage political parties that complied with the deadline. The ANC opposes the DA’s involvement and says the dispute is between itself and the IEC.
The stakes extend beyond the six municipalities because the Electoral Court’s decision will determine whether information captured on the nomination system without the final submission step can constitute a valid nomination.
The IEC is expected to publish the final candidate list on 16 September, making the court battle critical to whether the affected ANC candidates will appear on ballots in November.
Anyone with additional information can contact the press desk at press@townpress.co.za.