The Electoral Commission says it will implement the Constitutional Court’s order to include previously excluded ANC candidates in the 4 November local government elections.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will have to restore 181 ANC candidates to the electoral process after the Constitutional Court ruled in the party’s favour on Thursday, 15 October.

The ruling overturns an earlier Electoral Court decision and affects candidate nominations across six municipalities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. The court directed the commission to take the necessary steps to include the affected lists and ward nominations on ballot papers and in the relevant election processes.

What was the dispute about?

The case centred on the finalisation of nominations through the IEC’s online system.

The ANC argued that the affected candidates’ information had already been uploaded before the deadline and that it was seeking acceptance of those nominations, rather than permission to introduce new candidates. The IEC’s position was that the party had failed to complete the required final submission step in time.

The distinction between uploading candidate information and formally completing a submission became central to a dispute with significant consequences for the party’s participation in the affected municipalities.

Those municipalities are Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape; uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal; and Mangaung in the Free State.

IEC says it will comply

Responding to the order, the IEC said it respected the Constitutional Court’s authority and would implement its decision.

The commission said its approach throughout the proceedings had reflected its interpretation of electoral legislation and the need to apply prescribed processes consistently. It would communicate implementation details after completing the necessary assessments, and urged political parties and stakeholders to cooperate.

Ballot printing adds urgency

The decision arrives during an advanced stage of election preparations.

According to figures reported by the IEC on Wednesday, more than 66% of the approximately 79 million ballot papers had already been printed. Production had been scheduled to finish on Sunday, 18 October.

Special voting is scheduled for 2 and 3 November, followed by election day on 4 November. The IEC said preparations remained a priority as it worked to implement the court’s order.

While the ruling determines that the affected nominations must be included, the court said its reasons would follow later. Any wider conclusions about how the decision changes the treatment of nomination deadlines will therefore require examination of those reasons once released.

Reporting sources: SAnews.gov.za, EWN and Mail & Guardian.

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