The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has reportedly rejected a request from the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party to amend its candidate lists for the 4 November local government elections. The refusal was reported on 24 October.
MK wanted to correct nominations, add candidates it says were left off and replace candidates who have died. According to the commission's reported position, the Constitutional Court's ruling in the African National Congress (ANC) matter "only restored nominations that had already been captured on its online system before the deadline".
What the commission has said
The IEC's reported reasoning is that the court order was narrow. It restored only those ANC nominations that were already on the commission's online system before the deadline, rather than reopening the nomination process for all parties.
The court ruling restored 181 ANC candidates, according to published figures, and required about 6.6 million additional ballot papers. Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo has said printing is expected to finish on 30 October.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said on 17 October that logistical preparations had been significantly affected. Parliamentary committee chairperson Mosa Chabane said on 24 October that Parliament was confident the commission would deliver free and fair elections, while acknowledging that problems could arise.
The election in numbers
According to the IEC's published figures, 136,790 candidates are contesting 10,526 council seats in 257 municipalities. More than 29 million voters are registered.
- 2 and 3 November: special voting. The commission has approved 2,655,067 special-vote applications, up from 1,147,759 in 2021, an increase of 131%.
- 4 November: election day.
- 30 October: printing of ballot papers expected to finish, per Mamabolo.
