The African National Congress (ANC) has not yet proved that an Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) technical failure prevented it from submitting its candidate lists. Its court papers establish that the party experienced difficulty completing the online process. They do not establish what caused that difficulty.
The distinction matters, because a failure in the IEC’s system could support the ANC’s case. A missed step, expired session, or connectivity problem on the ANC’s side would, however, not carry the same weight.
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The ANC’s stronger legal argument says its nominations were already submitted because it completed the electronic forms and uploaded the required documents before the deadline. On this argument, pressing the “submit as final” button was not a separate requirement imposed by law.
What the IEC figures establish
The IEC recorded that 2,274 potential candidates from 45 political parties were captured on its system but not finally submitted by the August 28 deadline.
This included 480 proportional representation candidates and 1,794 ward candidates.
These were not all ANC candidates. The ANC’s case concerns its party lists and ward nominations in six municipalities: Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill, Port St John’s, uMshwathi, and Mangaung.
The court papers also state that 34 of the 299 parties using the online system did not finalise party lists, while 30 did not finalise ward nominations. Some parties may appear in both groups.
These figures establish that non-finalisation affected several online users. They do not establish that the system failed.
The same figures support two competing explanations. The ANC says the scale of the problem points to a systemic difficulty. The IEC can argue that several parties captured information but failed to complete the final step.
The figures prove the result. They do not prove its cause.
What strengthens the ANC’s version?
The ANC gives a detailed timeline.
It says its administrators were logged out at 4.34pm and returned to the system’s landing page. They reported the problem to an IEC official at 4.35pm. The official allegedly returned the call at 4.40pm.
The administrators were allegedly logged out again at 4.57pm, three minutes before the deadline.
This is useful evidence because the complaint was reportedly made before the deadline. It is more persuasive than an explanation offered only after the submissions had closed.
The exact times can also be tested against telephone records, written messages, and the IEC’s technical records.
The ANC further says all the required information and supporting documents had been uploaded before 5pm. It relies on the fact that the IEC’s system retained the candidate information and classified it as captured but not finally submitted.
That supports the argument that the IEC received something before the deadline. It does not, by itself, establish that the ANC completed every legally required step.
What remains unproved
The papers reviewed do not include screenshots, error messages, server logs, audit trails, or expert reports showing that the IEC system malfunctioned.
They also do not include detailed affidavits from the administrators who operated the system.
Secretary general Fikile Mbalula’s supporting affidavit is brief. He confirms the ANC’s application and grounds of appeal. He does not claim that he personally uploaded the information, pressed the relevant buttons, or witnessed the alleged logouts.
That creates a potential evidence problem. The people with direct knowledge should explain what they uploaded, when they uploaded it, what steps they took, and what appeared on their screens.
The absence of their affidavits does not automatically destroy the case. But it weakens the factual claim that an IEC malfunction prevented final submission.
A logout is not proof of a system defect. It may result from an expired session, inactivity, internet failure, or a problem with the user’s equipment. The ANC must eliminate, or at least make less probable, these competing explanations.
The ANC also says the IEC’s records will confirm that its sessions were terminated. The actual records are not contained in the papers reviewed. Until they are produced, that remains an assertion about what the evidence will show.
The IEC says its online system remained operational until the deadline and that it received no report showing that the platform was generally non-functional.
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That denial does not, without more, disprove the ANC’s account. A system can remain operational overall while individual users experience interruptions.
The IEC would need to address the ANC’s specific allegations. These include the claimed logouts at 4.34pm and 4.57pm and the report allegedly made to an IEC official at 4.35pm.
Why the legal argument may be decisive
The ANC argues that the law does not require a separate final-button confirmation.
Sections 14 and 17 of the Municipal Electoral Act allow party lists and ward nominations to be submitted manually or electronically. The regulations say electronic submission is performed by completing the electronic forms and uploading the required annexures.
The ANC says it completed those steps before the deadline.
It argues that “submit as final” is a feature of the IEC’s software, not a requirement appearing in the act, regulations, election timetable, or Government Gazette.
The comparison with manual submission is central to its case. A party that hands documents to an IEC official before 5pm has submitted them. It does not have to wait for the official to stamp, capture, or process them.
The ANC says electronic submission should work in the same way. Once the complete information entered the IEC’s designated system and became available for retrieval, submission was complete.
It also relies on the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. That legislation provides rules for determining when an electronic message is received. The ANC says receipt occurred when its information entered the IEC’s designated system and could be retrieved and processed.
- The ANC has not proven that an IEC technical failure prevented it from submitting candidate lists, only that it experienced difficulty completing the online process without clarifying the cause.
- The IEC recorded 2,274 potential candidates from 45 parties, including 480 proportional representation and 1,794 ward candidates, whose information was captured but not finally submitted by the deadline.
- The ANC reports administrators were logged out twice shortly before the deadline and contacted an IEC official about the issue, claiming all required documents were uploaded before 5pm.
- The ANC has not provided screenshots, error messages, server logs, or detailed affidavits from administrators to prove an IEC system malfunction prevented final submission.
- The ANC argues that pressing the “submit as final” button is a software feature, not a legal requirement, claiming submission was complete when party lists and documents were uploaded before the deadline.
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It says its administrators were logged out at 4.34pm and returned to the system’s landing page.
Secretary general Fikile
A logout is not proof of a system defect. It may result from an expired session, inactivity, internet failure, or a problem with the user’s equipment.
READ: Parties warn IEC against doing 'favours' for ANC regarding list submissions
Sections 14 and 17 of the Municipal Electoral Act allow party lists and ward nominations to be submitted manually or electronically.
It argues that “submit as final” is a feature of the IEC’s software, not a requirement appearing in the act, regulations, election timetable, or Government Gazette.
It also relies on the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
