The Electoral Court in Bloemfontein dismissed the ANC’s challenge on Wednesday (16/9), after the party sought to have 181 excluded candidates reinstated ahead of the 4 November local government elections.

The dispute centres on candidate information that the ANC says was captured on the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) online nomination system before the 28 August deadline, but was not formally submitted through the system. The IEC disputed the ANC’s position, maintaining the final submission process had not been completed before the deadline.

The affected candidates are spread across six municipalities – Mangaung in the Free State, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape. The ANC has indicated it intends to pursue further legal avenues following the ruling.

Mangaung is one of the key battlegrounds affected by the dispute. The metro’s 101-seat council has 51 ANC councillors, 26 from the DA, 12 from the EFF and five from the FF Plus, with the remaining seats held by smaller parties.

UFS political analyst Dr Harlan Cloete told OFM News he expected the ANC to lose support in Mangaung, citing what he described as service delivery failures and internal political infighting.

“I think the ANC is definitely at the back foot as much as it tries to explain this away, I think this is also part of factional battles raging within the ANC which is like self-distracting in front of our very own eyes.”

Cloete said the ANC’s electoral challenge was taking place against the backdrop of an increasingly fragmented political landscape, with ANC alliance parties such as the South African Communist Party (SACP), break away parties such as MK Party, EFF and Cope seeking support from voters who may previously have backed the ANC.

These parties would take advantage of ANC mistakes while ongoing factionalism and internal battles have contributed to what he described as an erosion of the party’s membership and support. Cloete pointed to former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, saying his influence in the party and in the Free State has diminished from the position he once occupied.

The upcoming election represented a significant test for the ANC as the party faces competition from organisations that have historically operated within or alongside its political support base.

He linked the ANC’s challenges to developments involving the SACP Cosatu, arguing divisions within the broader alliance could have electoral consequences. He said the ANC could lose further support as the political landscape becomes more fragmented.

Cloete raised the possibility that Mangaung could face coalition negotiations after the 4 November election if no party secures enough seats to govern outright. Mangaung’s current council composition gave the ANC a narrow majority, with 51 of the 101 seats. The municipality’s official status quo assessment records the ANC as the governing party and identifies previous political infighting and administrative instability among the challenges experienced by the metro.

The ANC’s candidate-list setback therefore comes at a politically sensitive time for Mangaung, where the party will be seeking to defend its existing majority while opposition parties attempt to increase their representation.

The Electoral Court ruling does not itself determine the outcome of the November election. Any change in the composition of Mangaung’s next council will depend on the votes cast and the allocation of seats after the election, he added.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi sm

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