By Akani Nkuna
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says the party’s decision to challenge the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Electoral Court is not an attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral body.
The ANC on Monday filed papers with the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein challenging the IEC’s decision not to register its candidates in six municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State.
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The party is asking the court to set aside the IEC’s decision and direct the commission to treat its party lists and ward candidate nominations as having been timeously, lawfully and validly submitted in terms of sections 14 and 17 of the Municipal Electoral Act.
The ANC wants the lists and nominations included for the Local Government Elections scheduled for 4 November 2026.
The application was filed a week after the 4 September candidate submission deadline, with the ANC arguing that candidate information had been received and stored on the IEC’s system before the deadline but was not processed because of a technical glitch.
Speaking at a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Mbalula said the party was not attacking the IEC but had been left with no choice after the commission declined to review its systems when the ANC raised concerns about the alleged glitch.
“We are proud of the institution the Commission is. We insist that our role must always be anchored in strengthening the institutions of the state, above all those that defend our democracy and the public purse,” said Mbalula.
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“The IEC is an exemplary institution by any global standard. There is no question about its integrity, or about its standing as a guardian of our democracy and of the right to vote, which was bled for.”
Mbalula said the ANC had successfully submitted 97% of its candidates, while the remaining 3%, representing 181 candidates, remained on the IEC’s system but had not been submitted because of the alleged glitch.
He said the ANC had submitted 9,128 candidates for the 2026 elections across all nine provinces.
Of these, 4,366 candidates were registered with the IEC for the ward ballot and 4,581 for the proportional representation ballot, bringing the total number of registered candidates to 8,947.
Mbalula said the capturing of the candidates was conducted under the supervision of the chairperson of the ANC’s Electoral Committee, former president Kgalema Motlanthe, First Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane and himself.
He dismissed allegations that candidate lists in some provinces and municipalities had been manipulated or tampered with.
“Let me repeat: there is not a single name the ANC wishes to enter into the Commission’s system anew. All the names are inside the system as we speak. Whether that is submission in law is the question the Court will decide,” said Mbalula.
“On 29 August I said that we had submitted all our candidates and paid for them in advance. That was true. It remains true.”
He also said the ANC was not the only political party affected by the alleged technical problem and expressed confidence that the party’s court challenge had a legal basis.
Mbalula urged political parties not to use the ANC’s court challenge to promote narratives that undermine the IEC’s credibility or capabilities.
He said the ANC had played a central role in the establishment of the IEC and had, since the advent of democracy, accepted the commission’s election results without protest.
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He said this position would remain unchanged regardless of the outcome of the court challenge.
“The ANC is not attacking the IEC. The ANC disagrees with the Commission on a point of law, and it has taken that disagreement to the court that Parliament created to hear it,” said Mbalula.
“Disagreement in a court is how a democracy respects an institution. Disagreement on a stage, with slogans, is how a democracy weakens one. The movement has chosen the court, respectfully.”
