Elections: Candidate nomination closes today – Will the ANC be ready?

Political parties intending to contest the local government elections have until today at 5pm to submit their nominations, and all eyes are on the African National Congress (ANC).

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) will have until Friday to notify parties of any candidates appearing on multiple party lists.

Parties will then have until 25 September to amend lists where necessary. The final list of candidates will be certified and published on Wednesday, 29 September.

Applications for special votes opened on Monday, and the elections will be held on 1 November.

Is the ANC ready?

Meanwhile, President Ramaphosa said the African National Congress (ANC) worked hard to ensure they were “able register candidates in all wards and for all PR-lists”.

Ramaphosa said the ANC “has begun to interview mayoral candidates in an effort to ensure we entrust competent and capable cadres with this important responsibility”.

He said the candidates who will be elected following the local government elections “will be required to lead clean and efficient service delivery”.

“The local government elections we are going to hold in November should be seen as a watershed moment for our democracy and enable us to reposition the local government sphere of government.

ALSO READ: DA accepts ConCourt loss, maintains IEC favoured ANC over registrations reopening

EFF clashes with ANC

An EFF spokesperson said the party “condemns the pure thuggery of the ANC” in KwaZulu-Natal, and called on officials to investigate allegations of ANC members preventing other parties from accessing voting stations.

The EFF said they “want to make it categorically clear that there are no no-go areas for the EFF, and no amount of drunk and disorderly behaviour by foolish individuals” will stop the party from campaigning.

The EFF also shared a video on Twitter, showing citizens dressed in ANC-branded clothing exchanging words with EFF members.

Party leader Julius Malema said the behaviours of ANC members at the station was unacceptable. He said the EFF will lodge a complaint with the IEC.

“The IEC leadership is here. I’ve seen the lady of the IEC filming the whole incident. We are going to complain, definitely. […] The ANC must be disqualified, particularly in this ward, for conducting themselves in the manner they did”.

IEC’s final registration drive

The IEC held its final voter registration drive over the weekend, with its online registration glitching. Potential voters were unable to capture their addresses on the system.

As of Monday, more than 1.7 million voters registered. The IEC says the registration yield is inclusive of new registrations as well as voters correcting their registration details.

NOW READ: IEC lauds youth turnout on voter registration weekend