Constitutional Court to rule on ANC’s election deadline failure

The Constitutional Court is expected to deliver judgment on Thursday in the African National Congress’s (ANC) attempt to have 181 candidates reinstated for South Africa’s local government elections on 4 November, after the party failed to complete the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) electronic nomination process before the deadline.

The dispute, which affects candidate lists in six municipalities, centres on the ANC’s failure to activate the IEC’s “Submit as Final” function before the 17:00 deadline on 28 August, despite having uploaded candidate information and supporting documents.

Eyewitness News reports that the Constitutional Court heard the party’s appeal on Monday, 12 October, after the Electoral Court dismissed its earlier challenge to the IEC’s decision to exclude the candidates.

The ANC maintains that it had substantially complied with the electoral requirements and that the failure to complete the final electronic step should not invalidate nominations already captured on the IEC’s system.

Representing the ANC, advocate Daniel Berger argued that neither the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act nor its regulations expressly required parties to press a final submission button for their nominations to be legally valid.

He submitted that the party was not seeking an extension of the deadline or permission to submit additional information, but wanted the court to recognise nominations it believed had already been submitted.

The IEC, however, maintains that uploading information does not constitute a completed nomination.

Advocate Terry Motau, representing the commission, argued that the ANC had been familiar with the electronic nomination requirements for years and had successfully completed the process for thousands of other candidates.

According to Eyewitness News, Motau told the court that the ANC had simply run out of time and could not selectively challenge a procedural requirement after failing to comply with it.

The commission also rejected suggestions that its electronic system had malfunctioned, maintaining that the final submission requirement was clearly communicated to participating parties.

The ANC’s failure affects 130 proportional representation candidates and 51 ward candidates across six municipalities.

The dispute could have wider implications for the elections, with more than 2,000 candidates from other political parties reportedly affected by similar failures to complete the electronic submission process.

The Democratic Alliance, which opposed the ANC’s application, argued that allowing the ANC’s candidates onto the ballot could require equivalent treatment for other affected parties, potentially disrupting the electoral timetable.

During Monday’s hearing, Constitutional Court justices questioned both the legal basis for the IEC’s final submission requirement and the ANC’s failure to complete a process it had successfully used elsewhere.

Daily Maverick reported that some justices expressed concern about the consequences of excluding candidates because of an electronic procedural requirement, while others questioned why the ANC had failed to follow established nomination procedures.

The IEC has indicated that it will comply with the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was not contemplating any change to the election date and remained committed to holding the municipal elections on 4 November.

The judgment will determine whether the ANC can reinstate its excluded candidates or whether the IEC’s decision, already upheld by the Electoral Court, will stand.

It will also clarify the legal status of candidate information uploaded to the IEC’s electronic system but not formally submitted before the prescribed deadline.

Sources: Eyewitness News, Daily Maverick, Business Day.