The IEC says its candidate nomination system remained available until the deadline and will not reopen submissions after rejecting the ANC's glitch claim.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa has rejected the ANC’s claim that a technical problem prevented it from completing candidate submissions for the 2026 local government elections.
The commission said its online candidate nomination system remained available throughout the nomination period, including up to the 17:00 deadline on Friday, 28 August.
It also ruled out reopening the system or granting any party or independent candidate additional time to capture nominations after the deadline.
The ANC said on Monday that a system glitch had affected its ability to finish submissions and that it was engaging the commission about an opportunity to complete the process.
The IEC disputed that account on Tuesday. It said no additional capturing opportunity had been granted and none was planned.
The commission opened the online system on 21 June, ahead of the formal nomination period that began when the election was proclaimed on 7 August. It said this gave parties and independent candidates time to capture and manage their submissions before nominations closed.
Any remaining dispute about the nomination process will be addressed through the National Political Liaison Committee, where political parties represented in the National Assembly engage with the commission.
The IEC’s statement does not itself establish the final number of ANC ward or proportional-representation lists that were submitted successfully. Reports of incomplete lists in several Eastern Cape municipalities emerged before the deadline dispute, but the commission has not publicly confirmed a final affected-ward total.
The immediate position is that the deadline remains closed and the IEC does not accept that its system failed. The ANC’s technical-glitch account remains the party’s claim and has not been accepted by the election authority.
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