CENTURION, Gauteng — The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has firmly stated it will not reopen the Candidate Nomination System for any political party or independent candidate following the official cut-off date. James Aphane, General Manager for Electoral Operations at the IEC, confirmed the system closed exactly as designed, dismissing recent claims of technical glitches that reportedly hindered some political parties from finalizing their submissions.
The clarification follows a statement released by the ANC on Monday, which alleged that while several candidate names were submitted before last week’s Friday 5 pm deadline, technical difficulties with the IEC’s candidate-capture system prevented the successful entry of their remaining candidates. Addressing these concerns during a briefing in Centurion, Aphane emphasized that the online candidate nomination system (OCNS) is bound by a strict election timetable. He expressed full confidence in the platform’s stability, noting that comprehensive audit trails verify the soundness of the IEC’s internal databases, application layers, server infrastructure, and connectivity.
Aphane drew a clear distinction between merely capturing candidate information and officially submitting a candidacy. He noted that the OCNS is one of the available options for contestants to submit their candidacy, whether for a political party or as an independent. Failure to officially submit before the closure means the candidacy was not placed in the basket for the election, he explained. He also added that users must consider their own device connectivity within the broader digital ecosystem, but reaffirmed that on the IEC’s end, the system behaved exactly as planned, tested, and approved.
Beyond the technical disputes, the briefing also addressed significant gender disparities in the current nomination data. Recent figures indicate that men account for nearly two-thirds (62%) of the nominations, while women comprise approximately 38%. Aphane clarified that this is not a survey, but actual real-time data. However, he cautioned that the nomination process is not yet fully concluded. Because the law allows parties to submit just one candidate initially, many have done so, meaning the current figures do not represent the final tally.
The definitive nomination figures will be released by the 16th, with official certificates of contestation to be issued on the 25th of the month. While Aphane deferred questions regarding the root causes of the gender gap to political analysts and policymakers, he contextualized the current trend with historical data. During the 2021 local government elections, counselor representation mirrored this disparity, with men holding 63.1% of positions compared to 36.9% for women.
Interestingly, despite lower representation on the ballot in 2021, women drove a notable surge in voter turnout, accounting for 58% of actual votes cast compared to 42% by men. Aphane explained that tracking these demographic patterns is a streamlined process for the commission. Because IEC elections are structured around geographic mapping at the voting district level, data can be seamlessly collected, analyzed, and rolled up to the ward, municipal, provincial, and national levels to monitor electoral trends accurately.
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