South Africa: IEC contests ANC appeal over 181 candidacies

In its legal filing, the commission asserts that candidate information could have been entered into the system, but the final submission step was not completed in six municipalities. The ANC, on its part, claims that technical difficulties prevented the finalization of already registered applications.

The 181 candidacies include 130 candidates for proportional representation and 51 constituency candidates. The dispute particularly involves Mangaung, Port St Johns, Ingquza Hill, Walter Sisulu, Sundays River Valley, and a municipality in KwaZulu Natal.

Court documents cited by Business Day indicate that the IEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Sy Mamabolo, submitted a response on September 8. The commission states that its system did not record any incidents at the times mentioned by the ANC and that the party continued to submit other lists shortly before the platform closed.

EWN reports that the IEC provided the Electoral Court with data showing operations conducted by ANC administrators just minutes before the deadline. The commission distinguishes between the mere entry of information and the final validation required for a candidacy to be considered submitted.

The ANC is asking the Electoral Court to determine whether the candidacies already uploaded to the platform before the deadline can be recognized as validly submitted. The case is set to be heard on Tuesday, as the final candidate lists are expected to be published ahead of the municipal elections on November 4.