The Constitutional Court judgment favouring the ANC to allow the party to amend the list of councillor candidates submitted to the IEC has created mixed reaction from political parties on Thursday.
This comes after the ANC had lost the case at the Electoral Court, where the IEC had argued that the party had failed to adhere to electoral guidelines, in which some of the organisation’s councillor candidate names were not captured into the system during the submission deadline.
In what could be described as victory for the ANC to include 181 of its councillor candidates that were excluded from the party’s submitted list, the judgment shocked many political players and South Africans at large.
Zille questions ANC exception
DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Helen Zille, said that her perspective is exactly the same as the one of her party, where the DA federal council chairperson, Ashor Sarupen, said that the judgment raises serious concerns about the precedent it sets for complying with the IEC’s deadlines and requirements, as the courts have held that strict mechanical compliance applies to deadlines in every matter up to now.
“I don’t understand the Constitutional Court’s recent rulings, and I don’t understand this one either. I just want to stress that it always seems that everyone has to stick by the rules except the ANC, and which really worries and puzzles me, because everybody else has to meet the deadline except them. The Constitutional Court is the final arbiter, so there’s absolutely no way that we can challenge it. We are a party of the rule of law, so we will respect it, even though I don’t understand it,” said Zille.
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She added that the apex court has not published reasons yet to state how the bench of judges had reached to the point of ruling in favour of the ANC.
“I will look at the reasons with great interest and see,” she said.
PAC warns against ‘two sets of rules’
Mayoral candidate of PAC in Johannesburg Thami Ka Plaatjie said that his party respects the Constitutional Court as the final arbiter of constitutional disputes. However, he also said that his organisation was deeply concerned about the implications of its ruling for electoral fairness, consistency and equality before the law.
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“Our fundamental position is that electoral rules must apply equally to all political parties, regardless of their size, parliamentary representation or political influence. If the ANC is afforded relief for failing to complete the prescribed candidate-submission process, every other political party in materially identical circumstances must enjoy the same legal protection. There cannot be one electoral standard for the governing party and another for other parties. Such unequal treatment would undermine public confidence in both the IEC and the integrity of our electoral democracy.
“While we await the Court’s written reasons, we believe the IEC must urgently clarify the implications of this judgment for all similarly affected parties and candidates. Electoral deadlines are essential for certainty, order and fairness. However, their application must be consistent, transparent and constitutionally defensible,” said Ka Plaatjie.
RISE Mzansi backs court but puts focus on election
RISE Mzansi national organiser Makashule Gana said: “We respect the decision of the ConCourt and trusts that it applied itself properly. We further trust in the IEC to comply with the judgment. Of importance is to ensure that the elections on the 4th of November are free and fair. The will of the people must ultimately prevail.”
DA’s Sarupen said his party respected the rule of law and the judgment of the Constitutional Court.
“However, this will not change their electoral fortunes. The ANC is in terminal decline, and across South Africa its support is at record lows. We note Fikile Mbalula’s threats about the government of national unity (GNU). The reality is that the DA is not in the GNU to go along to get along, and we will vigorously defend the rule of law and the equal application of the law. At present, we are completely focused on winning in towns and cities, and removing the ANC because they have destroyed those municipalities. The DA remains the only party to contest every ward in every municipality, and we look forward to the election on the 4th of November, where we will emerge as the largest party in many more municipalities than ever before.
READ: ANC argues IEC submission requirement threatens constitutional rights
“The DA is fighting to stop the chaos, and start service delivery in towns and cities destroyed at the hands of the ANC,” said Sarupen.
Zungula questions what happens to other parties
ATM mayoral candidate in Johannesburg and party’s parliamentary leader Vuyo Zungula said that his organisation views judgement as something that is deeply troubling in terms of lawmaking and in terms of how laws are to be interpreted.
“If the ConCourt is going to enter into a question of capture and submission, it is troublesome in the sense that the apex court is going to enter into a similar argument if someone can capture e-filing but not submit. The IEC has got guidelines which affect or achieve the fulfilment of what the legislation requires.
“Now, no one has argued and warned that the IEC has not done what the legislation requires. The only thing that is there is that the ANC’s argument was just premised on two issues, on whether capturing and submitting is one and the same thing. So our main argument, is the manner in which now the ConCourt wants to get involved in how legislation gets to be operational by organ of state.
“The question now, which has not been made clear by the ConCourt is what happens to the 44 other parties which are similarly aggrieved in the sense that they would not have made their submissions on time, because the judgment only speaks about ANC municipalities. Now, if it’s only about the ANC municipalities, is there justice in that, because there are also other parties that are affected, so what must happen? Must those parties also go to court and ask the similar thing as well, while we are three weeks away from the elections? That is a challenge in which we’re finding with this judgment as it could undermine the principle of strict electoral deadlines,” said Zungula.
BOSA to study judgment
Leader of BOSA, Mmusi Maimane said that his party wants to understand the merits on why the apex court had considered the judgment and why it had ruled in the manner it did.
“We will be studying the judgement in its fullest because the problem with a judgement like this is that it’s precedential. The precedent is that other parties should run the risk of abusing the same judgement.
“We abide by the judgment itself and what is now important for us to do is to say, candidates or no candidates, in the political realm of the issue, we have to go contest elections to safeguard the future of our country rather than worrying about administrative glitches that occur within another party. But as for the merits of the case, I will look at the judgment in its completeness, given all the facts of the case,” said Maimane.
ARU demands same relief for all 45 parties
The secretary general of the African Renaissance Unity (ARU), Bisho Meshack Tebe said that his party believes its position has been vindicated following the Constitutional Court’s agreement with the call for political parties to be given an opportunity to rectify discrepancies arising from the capturing process.
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“ARU calls on the Independent Electoral Commission to open a window period allowing all 45 affected political parties to rectify discrepancies in their candidate lists and ward allocations, rather than limiting the process to the six municipalities currently in question. We maintain that the rectification process must be fair, transparent, and inclusive, ensuring that all affected political parties are afforded an equal opportunity to address errors that occurred during the capturing process. Section 19 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees every citizen the right to make political choices, including the right to vote,” said Tebe.
He added that his party also believes that the electoral process must uphold constitutional principles and protect the democratic rights of voters, political parties and candidates.
“We therefore urge the IEC to take the necessary steps to ensure that all affected parties are treated fairly and that administrative discrepancies do not unnecessarily undermine electoral participation or the rights of citizens to exercise their democratic choices. ARU will continue to defend the Constitution and uphold the principles of democracy, fairness and justice. Our position is clear: electoral fairness must be upheld, and every affected political party must be given a fair opportunity to rectify discrepancies arising from the capturing process,” he said.
Mayibuye demands equal treatment
Afrika Mayibuye Movement led by the former MK Party secretary general Floyd Shivambu who was also a deputy president of the EFF stated that it welcomed the judgment of the apex court concerning candidates whose information and supporting documents were captured on the IEC’s Online Candidate Nomination System but were not reflected as finaly submitted.
READ: Parties warn IEC against doing ‘favours’ for ANC regarding list submissions
“The judgment affirms the supremacy of the Constitution and recognises that technical processes must serve democracy, not become instruments for unjustifiably excluding eligible candidates and disenfranchising communities. Rights may not be limited without justification, and electoral legislation must always be interpreted in favour of enfranchisement rather than disenfranchisement. Mayibuye welcomes the relief granted to the African National Congress. However, that relief cannot lawfully or fairly be confined to one political party. Section 9 of the Constitution guarantees equality before the law and equal protection and benefit of the law. Candidates and political parties affected by the same system, the same deadline and materially similar circumstances must therefore receive the same treatment,” said Afrika Mayibuye Movement spokesperson Sydney Baloyi.
The party added: “We accordingly call upon the Electoral Commission to act immediately, transparently and consistently by identifying all political parties whose candidate information was captured before the deadline and admitting every qualifying candidate who meets the same factual and legal requirements applied to the ANC candidates. No affected party should be forced to institute repetitive and costly litigation merely to obtain equal application of a principle already determined by the Constitutional Court. The Electoral Commission must implement one judgment, one legal standard and one remedy for all. Anything less would constitute unequal treatment, undermine confidence in the administration of elections and create the unacceptable impression that constitutional justice is available only to well-resourced political parties.”
Holomisa calls for urgent IEC-Party meeting
UDM president Bantu Holomisa also said that his party also welcomed the ConCourt judgment and also called on IEC to urgently engage with other affected parties.
“The United Democratic Movement (UDM) welcomes the Constitutional Court’s judgment on the candidate nomination process for the 2026 Local Government Elections, which provides an important opportunity to address concerns surrounding the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) electronic nomination system. The ball is now in the IEC’s court to give effect to the judgment and ensure that all political parties falling within its scope are treated fairly and consistently. We propose that the IEC urgently convenes a Party Liaison Committee (PLC) meeting with all affected political parties to discuss the implementation of the judgment and address the outstanding concerns surrounding the candidate nomination process. This engagement must not be limited to the immediate issue before the Court but must also consider other challenges experienced by political parties in using the IEC’s online nomination system,” said Holomisa.
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He added that one of the concerns requiring urgent attention was that the IEC system does not always provide clear and immediate confirmation of whether a candidate submission has been successfully accepted and finalised.
“In certain instances, parties only become aware of problems or changes at a later stage through email notifications. This creates uncertainty and places political parties at risk of discovering administrative or system-related problems only after critical deadlines have expired. The IEC must ensure that its systems provide clear, timely and reliable confirmation of submissions, with appropriate notifications where information remains incomplete or where further action is required. Political parties must be afforded a fair opportunity to identify and address such issues within the prescribed period. As the UDM, we acknowledge that there are important lessons to be learnt from this entire exercise.
“The IEC must use this opportunity to engage meaningfully with political parties, identify shortcomings in its systems and procedures, and implement practical measures that promote fairness, accountability and confidence in the electoral process. The UDM remains committed to free, fair and credible elections. We believe that the interests of our democracy are best served when the IEC and political parties engage constructively to resolve legitimate concerns and ensure that the electoral process is accessible, transparent and reliable,” said Holomisa.
- The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the ANC, allowing the party to amend its list of councillor candidates by including 181 names excluded due to missing the IEC submission deadline.
- The Democratic Alliance (DA) expressed concern that the ruling undermines strict compliance with IEC deadlines and worries that the ANC receives preferential treatment.
- Several parties, including PAC, ATM, BOSA, ARU, Afrika Mayibuye, and UDM, called for equal treatment of all political parties affected by submission discrepancies and urged the IEC to provide a remedy for all.
- The ANC won the case despite previously losing at the Electoral Court, where the IEC argued the ANC had not followed electoral guidelines.
- UDM called for an urgent IEC meeting with affected parties to discuss the implementation of the judgment and improve the IEC's online candidate nomination system to ensure clarity and fairness.
