Nominated without consent: EFF can’t force ex-member to contest elections, Electoral Court rules
'The EFF cannot coerce the applicant without his consent to stand for office as ward candidate against his will.'
The Electoral Court ruled that the former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member, Sivuyile Jacquin Tshikila, cannot be forced to contest the 2026 local government elections without his consent. Tshikila, who served as an EFF member and local leader in the Amathole and KwaMaqoma districts in the Eastern Cape, was nominated as a candidate for ward 3 in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality by the EFF without his approval.
He had resigned from the party in December 2024 following its elective leadership conference. Tshikila claimed he never gave the party permission to represent him as a candidate and had not signed any nomination documents. When he was unable to remove his name from the candidate list through the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), he turned to the Electoral Court.
Electoral Court Judge Modiba Shongwe stated that the EFF cannot coerce Tshikila to stand for office against his will, as it would contradict South Africa's constitutional democracy. The court also found that the IEC could not be held responsible for the nomination, as it acted in good faith on information provided by the EFF. The court directed the IEC to take measures to ensure voters are informed that Tshikila is not a candidate, either by reprinting the ballot papers or manually amending the ballot papers before the elections on 4 November.
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