JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) has officially filed papers at the Electoral Court challenging the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision not to register the party’s candidates in six municipalities across KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the Free State. The legal challenge seeks to overturn the IEC’s September 1 ruling, with the ANC arguing that their candidate lists were submitted lawfully and on time despite alleged technical glitches within the electoral body’s online system.
In its notice of application for leave to appeal, the ANC contends that the IEC’s refusal to accept the party lists and ward candidate nominations was based on a misrepresentation of the law. The party asserts that its submissions were made timelessly, lawfully, and validly in accordance with sections 14 and 17 of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act 27 of 2000. The affected municipalities include Sundays River Valley (EC106), Walter Sisulu (EC145), Ingquza Hill (EC153), and Port St. Johns (EC154) in the Eastern Cape, alongside a KwaZulu-Natal local municipality (KZN221), where outgoing ward councillor raised concerns about the unregistered PR list, and the Mangaung Metro Municipality, where PR candidates were also left unregistered despite the party controlling the metro by a shoestring.
The core of the ANC’s argument hinges on the legal interpretation of the word “submission.” The party maintains that it successfully submitted the required documentation on time, but technical glitches in the IEC’s system prevented the return of a confirmation receipt, rendering the process faulty through no fault of their own. The ANC is seeking remedial action from the Electoral Court to have the dismissals set aside and to allow the registration of these particular candidates.
However, the IEC has firmly pushed back against these claims. IEC Commissioner Sy Mamabolo recently insisted that the commission has receipts proving the online system was functioning optimally during the relevant period, noting that other political parties were able to complete their submissions without issue. This dispute of fact regarding the existence of technical glitches will be a central point of ventilation during the upcoming legal arguments.
Beyond the legal battlefield, the candidate registration failure has sparked significant political ructions within the ANC. Mondli Gungubele, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies and a former deputy minister of finance, has publicly fired salvos at the ANC’s National Working Committee (NWC) leadership. Gungubele criticized the party for becoming an interested party in matters of a personal nature involving President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile, arguing that the ANC should not be entangled in such personal issues.
These tensions highlight deeper divisions within the party, particularly involving former allies who championed President Ramaphosa’s re-election at the 2022 Nasrec conference. Critics within the National Executive Committee are expressing frustration over the administrative failure to submit the lists on time. Adding to the pressure, some voices are suggesting that the position of ANC Secretary General, currently held by Fikile Mchunu, should no longer be allocated to the Eastern Cape, the province where the ANC was formed, citing similar submission problems that occurred in 2021.
Despite the internal criticism, top ANC leadership, including Secretary General Fikile Mbalula and National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, have echoed the claims of technical glitches, pointing out that the system failures affected approximately 45 political parties, not just the ANC. The party is scheduled to hold a press briefing at 11:00 to provide further updates on its legal strategy and remedial requests.
Interestingly, the ANC is not the only political formation grappling with candidate submission failures. The Patriotic Alliance (PA), a key party within the Government of National Unity, also failed to submit its candidate lists for the Newcastle Local Municipality and the Ugu District in KwaZulu-Natal. PA leader Gayton McKenzie recently acknowledged the administrative blunder in these hotly contested areas, though the party has indicated it will not be taking its list fight to the Electoral Court.
As the Electoral Court prepares to hear the matter, the interpretation of the municipal electoral statute and the conduct of the IEC’s registration system will remain under intense scrutiny, with the democratic representation in these six municipalities hanging in the balance.
