The African National Congress (ANC) and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) faced off in the Electoral Court today over the disputed submission of candidate lists for the upcoming 4 November local government elections.
The matter is being heard virtually, presided over by Judge Lebogang Modiba, with Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood and Professor Moses Phooko joining the bench.
At the heart of the dispute is whether the ANC successfully lodged all its councillor candidate lists before the 5pm deadline last month. The ANC argues that a technical glitch in the IEC’s online system prevented the completion of submissions, leaving some candidates excluded. The party insists that its data was captured but not formally processed due to system failure.
The IEC, however, maintains that its system was fully operational throughout the nomination period and that the ANC’s missing candidates were never formally submitted. The Commission has stressed that capturing candidate information is not the same as completing the submission process, which requires final confirmation.
The court is expected to rule on the legal implications of this distinction — whether the act of capturing candidate data amounts to a valid submission, or whether only formally lodged lists can be accepted
No tags for this post.
