Electoral Court dismisses ANC appeal over late candidate submissions

The Electoral Court has dismissed the African National Congress’s appeal in a dispute over the submission of candidates for the upcoming local government elections.

In an order issued on Wednesday, the court granted the Democratic Alliance (DA) leave to intervene as a party in the proceedings and dismissed the ANC’s appeal.

The court also found that the African Transformation Movement’s (ATM) application for leave to intervene was not properly before it because it had been brought late and contrary to the court’s directives. No order was made as to costs.

The dispute stems from the ANC’s failure to complete the submission of candidate lists in six municipalities by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) deadline of 28 August. The party has argued that candidate information had been captured on the IEC system before the deadline, but that technical problems prevented the final submission.

The DA had previously approached the Electoral Court to oppose the ANC’s bid and argued that the deadline should apply equally to all political parties.

DA Federal Council Chairperson Ashor Sarupen welcomed the ruling, saying: “deadlines are deadlines.”

Sarupen said the ruling was important for the rule of law, fairness in elections and equality among political parties.

The DA also said the candidate submission process is now complete and that the IEC is expected to publish the final candidate lists.

The ANC’s dispute affected 181 candidates across six municipalities, according to reports on the case.