The governing party can still lose a ballot it thought it owned.
On 28 August at 17:00, the Electoral Commission of South Africa closed its Online Candidate Nomination System for the 4 November local government elections. The ANC argues candidate data for six municipalities was already uploaded onto the platform, but the commission treated those records as unfinalised drafts. That administrative divide now sits before the Electoral Court.
Secretary-general Fikile Mbalula briefed at Luthuli House on 8 September, framing the legal challenge as statutory compliance rather than an assault on the commission. The ANC notice of application asks the court to order the commission to accept the captured lists and place the candidates on the ballot. The party faces an unforgiving clock: the statutory election timetable locks final candidate lists on 16 September, followed by the ballot paper draw on 23 September.
The political damage across the six affected councils is uneven. In Mangaung in the Free State, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and both Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, ward candidates remain registered while proportional representation lists were locked out.
The existential blow lands in Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns along the Wild Coast. In those two Eastern Cape councils, both ward and PR nominations were rejected. In 2021, the ANC won outright majorities in both municipalities. If the court refuses to intervene, the party will not appear on either ballot paper, forfeiting council control and PR seats to opposition parties and independent slates without a single vote cast.
The ANC founding papers claim the portal experienced technical bottlenecks during the final hours of 28 August, citing approximately 2 274 captured but unsubmitted candidates across dozens of political formations. That argument carries dual legal weight: the court must determine whether the commission digital portal failed users, or whether party administrators neglected the mandatory final submission protocol before the hard deadline.
Under the Municipal Electoral Act and published commission regulations, electronic candidate nomination requires both capturing candidate documentation and completing a final verification step before the statutory deadline. Data entered into portal fields remains draft information until an authorised party representative formally executes submission and receives system confirmation. The legal dispute turns on whether pre-deadline data entry constitutes lawful submission when the final digital confirmation was not recorded by 17:00.
Voters in Ingquza Hill, Port St Johns, Mangaung, uMshwathi, Walter Sisulu, and Sundays River Valley must check certified candidate lists published on 16 September. If the commission decision stands, voters in Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns cannot vote for the ANC on either the ward or proportional representation ballot. In municipal governance, proportional representation votes allocate council seats only to registered party lists, meaning missing lists directly reallocate municipal executive power to rival contenders.
* Will the Electoral Court grant urgent relief and alter a statutory deadline for the governing party before the 16 September list compilation?
* Does the Electoral Commission defend its digital submission cutoff with system audit logs demonstrating platform availability during the final hours of 28 August?
* If Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns go to the 4 November poll without ANC names, which opposition parties and independent slates are positioned to capture council majorities?