- The Constitutional Court directed the Electoral Commission of South Africa to include the ANC’s lists and ward candidate nominations on ballot papers.
- 181 ANC candidates had been left off the ballot in six municipalities for not clicking “submit as final” by the 28 August deadline.
The Constitutional Court has upheld the African National Congress’s (ANC) appeal and directed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to include the party’s lists and ward candidate nominations on the ballot papers for the 4 November local government elections.
The ruling overturns the Electoral Court’s decision of 16 September, which upheld the IEC’s exclusion of 181 ANC candidates in six municipalities: Port St Johns, Ngquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal and Mangaung in the Free State.
IEC had excluded them because their details were captured on its online nomination system but not marked “submit as final” before the 5pm deadline on 28 August. The full judgment was not yet available at the time of writing.
IEC had warned that a ruling for the ANC could mean ballot papers would have to be reprinted. It has said it is not considering changing the 4 November election date. Its chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said the commission would build whatever the court decided into its operations.
Reports ahead of the judgment said 45 parties had captured details of 2,274 candidates on the IEC’s system without finalising them, and that the ruling could have consequences for them. It is not yet clear what the order means for those candidates.
