ANC orders forensic audit over candidate list changes before IEC deadline

The ANC has called in forensic investigators to establish who may have altered its municipal election candidate lists and whether the suspected changes contributed to the party missing a crucial Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) deadline.

The investigation follows allegations that some candidates approved by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) did not appear on the lists submitted to the IEC.

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Sunday World understands that the ANC’s national working committee (NWC) commissioned Tayfin Forensic & Investigative Auditors earlier this month to investigate the discrepancies and establish what happened before the August 28 deadline.

Sunday World has seen a letter it sent requesting information as the investigation moves into the evidence-gathering stage.

A source familiar with the matter said the discrepancies became apparent when provincial structures began loading the approved candidates onto the IEC system. “The issue is that the names were approved at the NEC meeting and then were handed to provincial secretaries, but when they were being loaded to the system … it was realised that the names had changed. Then, that had to be corrected, and it took time,” the source said.

The questions sent to secretaries cover whether changes to nominations were authorised, whether political instructions influenced the final lists and whether any directives to delay or withhold submissions were issued on August 28.

Investigators are also examining whether provincial structures and leagues received instructions on gender balance between August 25 and 27, who issued them and how they were communicated.

Secretaries have been asked to identify candidates who were removed, lost their positions or were moved down the rankings, and explain who authorised the changes and why.

They must also provide details of complaints about candidate selection or alleged interference and how these were handled.

The probe follows weeks of internal tensions over the ANC’s candidate-submission process, including the party’s community voting system.

As Sunday World reported on August 30, the party’s leadership was forced into last-minute efforts to resolve nomination disputes. This included cases in which candidates selected by communities were replaced through branch processes. The national leadership ordered some candidates to be reinstated.

Gender representation was another point of contention. In Gauteng, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, branches had largely nominated men, prompting interventions to improve female representation on the lists.

The party also faced disputes over the validity of candidate-selection processes in provinces where members alleged that prescribed branch and community meetings were bypassed.

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ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu confirmed that the party’s NWC resolved on September 21 to institute an independent forensic audit into cases where candidates registered with the IEC were not those duly selected under the ANC’s candidate guidelines.

Bhengu told Sunday World the NWC had mandated the National Officials to finalise the audit’s terms of reference and composition. Acting on that mandate, the officials appointed Tayfin Forensic Auditors to conduct the investigation.

The report will be tabled before the NWC for deliberation after the November 4 local government elections to ensure the probe does not distract from the party’s campaign. The ANC will then communicate the findings and any action to be taken.

“The ANC is committed to making sure that the candidates on the ballot are those chosen by its members and communities, and to holding accountable anyone found to have acted outside the Candidate Guidelines,” Bhengu said.

The ANC spokesperson highlighted that the party had been “vindicated” by the courts and that the investigation has nothing to do with the case.

“The Constitutional Court’s judgment confirms that the ANC did not fail to register these candidates, and it ordered the Electoral Commission of South Africa to register them, together with similarly affected candidates of other parties. That matter is now settled, and the audit will not deal with it,” she said. Tayfin’s appointment comes against the backdrop of its previous work with ANC-linked structures.

In May 2024, the firm collaborated with the Progressive Business Forum, the ANC’s business arm, to host a luncheon at Tayfin Estate in Centurion attended by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, party treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa and other political figures.