JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) is escalating its demand for a formal investigation into technical failures within the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) candidate nomination system. ANC National Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu revealed that a critical segment of the party’s candidates was abruptly dropped by the digital portal during the final submission window, a claim that stands in direct contrast to recent statements from electoral officials denying any system malfunctions.
The controversy centers on the lodgement deadline of August 28. In a formal statement issued on August 31, the ANC noted that while the majority of its candidates were successfully captured, the IEC’s online system experienced a malfunction during the final phase of uploads. Bhengu explained that the platform failed to generate standard validation confirmations or provide specific error feedback—such as flagging incorrect identity numbers or surname variations—leaving the party’s administrative team unable to troubleshoot the rejections in real time.
This narrative has sparked a public dispute of facts. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo recently indicated that he was either unaware of any technical glitch or that no such system failure occurred. Addressing this disconnect, Bhengu clarified that the ANC is not accusing the electoral body of acting in bad faith or misleading the public. Instead, the party is insisting on a collaborative, transparent inquiry, potentially involving independent technical experts, to definitively establish what caused the portal to reject the final batch of entries.
The scope of the issue impacts approximately 150 candidates across proportional representation (PR) and ward lists, out of the nearly 10,000 names the ANC had already successfully registered in the IEC system. The affected regions are primarily traditional ANC strongholds, including specific municipalities in the Eastern Cape (notably Port St. Johns and Mahatini, alongside a third unnamed area), Mangaung in the Free State, and one municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Provincial leadership has reportedly already engaged the IEC’s general secretary and chairperson to seek accountability and guarantees regarding the integrity of the process.
When questioned about why a major political machine would be finalizing submissions at the eleventh hour, Bhengu defended the timeline as a byproduct of the ANC’s uniquely rigorous and participatory internal procedures. She emphasized that the party’s candidate selection involves extensive community voting, stringent security vetting, and final ratification by extended and special sessions of the National Executive Committee. These layers of oversight occasionally necessitate last-minute adjustments, meaning the final “submit” action was a procedural formality for already vetted individuals, not a result of poor planning.
Crucially, the ANC stressed that its request for an investigation does not equate to a demand for special treatment. Bhengu explicitly stated that the party is not asking the IEC to condone unuploaded candidates, reorder existing lists, or bend any established electoral rules.
With the democratic process scheduled for November 4, the ANC maintains that resolving this technical discrepancy is vital. The party argues that honoring the robust, community-driven selection process is essential to ensuring that voters in the affected municipalities can fully exercise their democratic choice without being disenfranchised by administrative or digital errors. Engagement between the ANC’s party liaison structures and the IEC remains actively ongoing.
