JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) has announced it will firmly oppose the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) application to intervene as an interested party in the ANC’s ongoing Electoral Court appeal concerning the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision not to register 181 councillor candidates.
The legal clash centers on the DA’s recent court application to join the ANC’s appeal, a move the ruling party argues is an attempt to derail a process that could ultimately benefit over 2,000 candidates across multiple political parties, not just the ANC’s 181 affected nominees.
According to court documents, the DA’s core argument rests on the principle that “a deadline is a deadline.” The DA’s filings extensively detail the IEC’s online nomination system, outlining how the uploading process operates and alleging that the ANC misrepresented the timeline and ultimately missed the electoral commission’s statutory deadline.
In a final responding affidavit filed on September 9 by ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula, the party pushed back forcefully against the commission’s narrative. The affidavit argues that the IEC is incorrect in contending it made “no decision.” By refusing to process any nomination lists that were not submitted as final, the commission effectively made a decision with significant legal and practical consequences.
Furthermore, the ANC’s filing disputes the IEC’s claim that its Online Candidate System (OCS) functioned flawlessly. Lutuli House asserts that there is a material dispute of fact regarding a technical glitch during the bulk uploading of candidates by political parties, arguing that this very dispute makes the matter unsuitable for a straightforward appeal. The onus remains on the ANC to prove that this administrative and technical glitch occurred, rather than on the IEC to disprove it.
The ANC is not alone in this legal battle. The United Democratic Movement (UDM), led by Bantu Holomisa, has officially joined the ANC’s application, amplifying the claim that systemic uploading failures affected multiple parties.
SABC news reporter Samkele Maseko emphasized that opposing the DA’s intervention is currently the top priority on the party’s agenda. Maseko argued that the DA should not be permitted to win votes “through the back door” by attempting to act as the self-appointed guardian of South Africa’s electoral politics. Such a move, the ANC contends, would deprive other South Africans of the opportunity to vote due to an administrative and technical glitch within the IEC system.
The matter is scheduled to be heard on September 15 at the Bloemfontein Electoral Court. Legal analysts note this hearing represents only the first phase of the ANC’s broader application. Should this initial legal step not succeed, the ANC has indicated it is prepared to explore alternative legal avenues within the South African judicial system to resolve the candidate registration dispute.
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