A record 136,790 candidates have been cleared to contest South Africa's local government elections on 4 November, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo gave the figure at a media briefing in Pretoria and said it is significantly higher than in 2021, even though the number of seats rose only slightly.
In 2021, 95,427 candidates were certified for 10,478 seats. This year's contest is for 10,526.
The numbers
According to the IEC, 98,219 candidates were nominated by parties for ward seats and 38,571 by parties for proportional representation (PR) seats. A further 621 independents are standing for ward seats.
The contest covers 8 metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities. The IEC says the seat total rose from 10,478 in 2021 to 10,526.
How nominations were checked
The IEC says nominations closed on 28 August at 5pm, with 84% submitted online and 16% manually. On 4 September it asked 221 parties and independents for more details on 1,280 candidates, with a deadline of 7 September. On 9 September it sent notices covering 550 candidates who had been nominated twice or by more than one party.
After these reviews the IEC disqualified 5,096 candidates, according to Mamabolo. The commission said it would publish the full list of candidates and parties on 16 September.
What we do not yet know
- Whether the 621 independents are included in the 136,790 total. The party ward and PR figures alone add up to 136,790, so the reported breakdown does not reconcile and needs checking with the IEC.
- How many parties are contesting; the figures we reviewed do not say.
- Whether court challenges over candidate lists, including disputes inside the ANC, will change the final lists before 4 November.
- Whether any figures have changed since the 16 September briefing.
