More than 142,000 candidates are in the running for just over 10,500 council seats in November, with the IEC warning there will be no “grace period” for candidates whose details were captured online but not formally submitted by last Friday’s 5pm deadline.
The warning comes as the ANC claims it was unable to submit all its candidates because of technical glitches on the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) online nomination system.
But the commission said it had received no report that its system was not functioning on Friday and has ruled out reopening it for candidates who missed the deadline.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said 142,072 candidates had been nominated to contest 10,526 councillor seats across the country.
The figure is about 43% higher than the roughly 99,000 candidates nominated for the 2021 local government elections.
The IEC’s immediate task is now to check the nominations for compliance with the law before publishing the final list of candidates on September 16.
Hanging over the process, however, is the fate of 2,274 potential candidates whose details were captured on the IEC’s online system but whose nominations were not finally submitted by the deadline, Moepya said.
The figure comprises 480 potential candidates for proportional representation (PR) seats and 1,794 potential ward candidates across 45 political parties.
The commission’s position is that, in practical terms, these candidates were not submitted to the IEC and are therefore not in contention for the elections.
The problem is not confined to the ANC. The IEC says the 2,274 potential candidates were spread across 45 political parties. The IEC has not attributed the 2,274 cases to technical problems and says it received no report that its system was non-functional.
Moepya stressed that there was a distinction between candidates whose details had been captured on the system and those whose nominations had actually been submitted to the commission.
While the ANC has blamed technical glitches for its failure to submit some candidates, the IEC says it received no report that its system was non-functional.
“Our reports indicate no technical glitch,” Moepya said.
He said the system had been available since June 21, well ahead of the August 28 deadline.
Moepya acknowledged that internet-based systems could be affected by factors such as traffic volumes, bandwidth and electricity, but said the IEC had no reports of its system not functioning on the day.
The commission has also ruled out reopening the system for candidates who missed the deadline.
Moepya said the period between the close of nominations and publication of the final candidate list should not be viewed as a grace period or an opportunity to change nominations.
Instead, the IEC will conduct further compliance checks before publishing the final list.
On September 4, the commission may request additional documents from political parties and independent candidates where required, with a deadline of September 7 for the submission of those documents.
The commission will also notify parties and candidates on September 9 where candidates appear to have been nominated more than once, including cases where a person appears as an independent candidate and on a party list.
The final list of candidates who meet all the requirements is due to be published on September 16.
Women make up only 38% of candidates
The IEC said 40,241 candidates had been nominated by political parties for PR seats, while 100,856 had been nominated for ward seats. A further 975 independent candidates had been nominated for ward seats.
The candidate pool is dominated by people aged between 36 and 55, who account for more than half of the nominations. Candidates aged between 41 and 45 make up the largest five-year age group, accounting for about 16%.
Women remain under-represented, making up about 38% of candidates overall. For ward contests, women account for about 35% of candidates, compared with 65% men.
There are also hundreds of political parties in the race.
Moepya said 345 political parties were registered at national level, of which 227 were contesting the elections, representing 66% of those registered at that level.
- At provincial level, 36 parties were registered, with 33 contesting, representing 92%.
- At metropolitan level, 61 parties were registered, with 49 contesting, representing 80%.
- At district level, 290 parties were registered, of which 237 were contesting, representing 82%.
Overall, 546 of the 732 political parties registered at the various levels are contesting the elections, representing 75%.
Asked about candidates who may have been nominated by more than one party, Moepya said the IEC would notify the parties involved and give them an opportunity to retain or remove the candidate within the legal framework.
But he stressed that the period between the nomination deadline and September 16 was not a second chance to change candidate lists.
The IEC also said enhancements to its election results system had been completed and that the system was undergoing external testing, including cybersecurity checks. Political parties will be invited to audit the system once the external audit has been completed.
Moepya also urged political parties and candidates to observe the Electoral Code of Conduct as the election campaign gathers pace.