The Electoral Commission has decided that 32 political parties in a position comparable to the African National Congress must be treated as having lawfully submitted their candidate lists for the 2026 Local Government Elections, extending the benefit of a Constitutional Court ruling beyond a single beneficiary.
Announcing the decision at a media briefing in Pretoria on Friday, IEC Chairperson Commissioner Mosotho Moepya framed it as a matter of constitutional duty rather than discretion. “Consistent with the constitutional imperative for free and fair elections as well as the importance of upholding the inherent principle of parity of treatment, the Commission has resolved that the 32 similarly situated parties must be deemed to have lawfully submitted their candidates,” he said.
The ruling that triggered the Commission’s response came from the Constitutional Court, whose order compels the Commission to include 181 ANC candidates across six municipalities: 51 ward candidates and 130 proportional representation candidates. The court’s directive applies to all parties that found themselves in a similar position to the ANC, and its reach extends to 107 municipalities.
In the Commission’s assessment, treating the ANC differently from comparable contestants would not withstand scrutiny. “The Commission’s view is that it would be irrational and offensive to the principle of parity of treatment to exclude parties similarly situated to the ANC,” Moepya said. He added that the inclusion of the parties was made judiciously and solely to advance the free and fair elections the Constitution demands.
The 32 parties were identified after the Commission conducted compliance checks. According to the Chairperson, they intended to contest in 121 municipalities across the country, with participation spanning all three ballot types: metro, local, and district. Like the ANC, they had nominated compliant candidates and paid election deposits, but had not submitted their final candidate lists.
The checks also surfaced parties that fell short. Thirteen other parties were found not to have met the requirements for the lawful submission of candidates, even after the effect of the Constitutional Court order was extended. Moepya explained that their failures related to matters including the payment of election deposits and the voters’ roll registration requirement to be registered in the municipality being contested.
Giving effect to the judicial injunction carries a substantial logistical burden. The Commission will have to produce 33 million ballots to accommodate the extension. Of that total, 27 million had already been printed, while 6.6 million had not. Those unprinted ballots relate to the six municipalities whose ballots were affected by the ANC appeal that was before the Constitutional Court. The Commission held back from commencing printing until the court ruled, meaning, as Moepya put it, that no costs were incurred in relation to ballots for those six municipalities.
The next step is administrative confirmation. The Commission will contact all 32 parties to establish whether they still intend to participate in the 4 November elections. Those that do will be given an opportunity to comply with candidate nomination requirements and, where required, supplement or substitute candidate names appearing on multiple lists. Candidates will then receive their candidature certificates, with these processes unfolding within a truncated timeline limited to the 33 involved parties.
Moepya did not expect the developments to shift the election date, but he acknowledged that logistical preparations have been significantly affected and that operations will now have to be conducted within a very truncated period. He closed by reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, including respecting the decisions of the courts, and its resolve that political parties be treated fairly and consistently in the administration of the electoral process. Whether all 32 parties confirm their participation in time for the 4 November vote remains the open question hanging over the Commission’s compressed timetable.