‘There was no glitch’: IEC says ANC failed to meet deadline
The IEC has told the Electoral Court that ANC officials were still using its candidate nomination system right up until the deadline.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa has asserted that the African National Congress (ANC) did not meet a deadline for submitting candidate lists for the upcoming local government elections on November 4. The ANC claimed technical issues with the online candidate nomination system (OCNS) caused the delay, but the IEC maintains records showing ANC officials continued using the system until the deadline.
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo noted the ANC's own activity on the platform but emphasized the party's tardiness in finalizing submissions. The IEC warned the ANC multiple times before the deadline, including a red-flagged email listing incomplete ward lists. Despite the warning, the ANC altered its lists in the final hours, including retracting a submitted list for Chief Albert Luthuli in Mpumalanga.
Mamabolo argued that the ANC's last-minute actions meant the party did not meet the deadline, and by law, the affected candidates were not officially nominated. The case includes municipalities such as Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill, and Port St Johns, with the ANC potentially losing candidates in two strongholds. The African National Congress has decided not to appeal the IEC's decision.
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