View noticesIEC rejects ANC’s late-capture plea as poll deadline row deepens
The Commission was unequivocal in ruling out any concession on timing.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has ruled out granting the ANC extra time to capture outstanding candidates for the 4 November local government elections, after the party blamed technical glitches on the Commission's online system for gaps in some of its submissions.
Hope Ntanzi reported for ANA that the Commission said on Tuesday that it had not allowed, and did not intend to allow, any political party or independent candidate a further opportunity to capture candidates after nominations closed at 17h00 on Friday, 28 August.
The statement followed an announcement from the ANC that technical problems with the IEC's candidate-capture system had affected a small number of its entries on the closing day.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the party had submitted the “overwhelming majority” of its candidates ahead of the deadline, with only a small number of entries still being finalised in conjunction with the Commission. She characterised the matter as technical and administrative, and said it was being dealt with through the IEC's established processes.
No further capturing window, IEC says
The Commission was unequivocal in ruling out any concession on timing. It said any questions around the finer details of the candidate nomination process would instead be raised through the National Political Liaison Committee, the forum comprising all parties represented in the National Assembly.
The IEC also pushed back on suggestions that its system had been unreliable, saying the Online Candidate Nomination System had remained available throughout the process, including on the day nominations closed.
While the official nomination period only opened on Proclamation Day, 7 August, the Commission noted it had in fact made the system accessible from 21 June – giving contestants, in its words, “sufficient and uninterrupted use of the system ahead of the deadline”.
ANC strikes conciliatory tone
For its part, the ANC has avoided confrontation with the Commission. Bhengu said the party retained full confidence in the IEC and the integrity of the electoral process, and would not litigate the matter through the media while the Commission's work continued. She added that the ANC was confident the outstanding issues would be resolved, and that a further update would follow once the process had concluded.
By midday, 2 September, it was reported that the IEC was due to brief the media on the full outcome of the candidate nomination process, along with the next milestones on the road to the 2026 local government elections, at Election House in Centurion on Wednesday. The Commission said it remained committed to running a transparent, impartial and credible process, and would continue to communicate through its official channels.