IEC prints ballot papers for 136 790 candidates as ANC races to save 181

The Electoral Commission of South Africa will publish a record 136 790 candidates for the 4 November municipal elections, after the Electoral Court dismissed the ANC’s bid to have 181 late candidate submissions accepted.

As The Citizen reported on 17 September, the commission is proceeding with the list despite the ANC’s stated intention to appeal. The judgment leaves 181 ANC candidates at risk of exclusion from the ballot.

What the court decided

The ANC failed to submit 181 candidates through the IEC’s online system by the 28 August deadline. The party told the court the system had suffered technical glitches. The commission rejected that explanation and said its system was working properly.

The Electoral Court agreed with the commission and dismissed the ANC’s case. It is the first time since the 1994 democratic elections, and the local elections that followed in 1995, that the ANC has missed the administrative deadline for submitting candidate lists.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the party would exercise its legal rights and pursue an appeal. She said the ANC respects the courts and is not asking for preferential treatment from the commission or for the rules to be changed to suit it.

A record field, and what it means for voters

The final list published by the commission is the largest in South Africa’s democratic history, up from 95 427 candidates in 2021. Of the 136 790 people contesting, 98 219 are ward candidates nominated by parties, 38 571 are proportional representation candidates, and 621 are independents standing in wards.

Candidates will contest 10 526 seats across the country’s municipalities, up from 10 478 in 2021. The eight metropolitan municipalities account for 43 098 candidates, the 44 district municipalities for 6 443, and the 205 local municipalities for 87 249.

Competition is thickest in Johannesburg, where 75 parties are contesting, followed by Tshwane with 70, eThekwini with 69, Ekurhuleni with 67 and Cape Town with 55.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the candidates on the final list have met the statutory requirements to contest the polls. The commission welcomed the court’s ruling and said it was satisfied that the court had spoken on the matter.

The clock the ANC is now racing

The commission’s timetable leaves little room for a legal reversal. After the ballot paper draw ceremony on 23 September, the commission will issue the final candidate list and begin preparing to print ballot papers.

That sequence matters for voters in the six municipalities where the 181 candidates were due to stand. If the appeal does not succeed before the list is finalised, those wards and party lists will go to the polls without the ANC names that were meant to appear on them. Voters will see the difference on the ballot paper itself.

The commission will issue the final candidate list after the 23 September draw and begin preparing to print ballot papers.

What the parties are watching

The ruling also carries weight beyond the six municipalities. Political analyst André Duvenhage said the court’s decision could leave a lasting mark on the legacies of ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and party president Cyril Ramaphosa.

He pointed to poor administration and a lack of consensus among candidates as the underlying problem, and said internal conflict would be visible if the party’s current lists were made public. Asked whether the missed deadline could be the result of friendly fire, Duvenhage said there was a strong possibility of sabotage, and that forces inside and outside the ANC would like to see its current system fail.

Mbalula, as the party’s administrative leader, has been blamed for the oversight.

The commission’s preparations continue on schedule. The ballot paper draw on 23 September is the next dated step, and the final candidate list follows it.

Source: The Citizen, ANC faces race against time to save 181 election candidates.