President Cyril Ramaphosa said on 4 September 2026 that the ANC submitted its candidate lists nationally for the 2026 local government elections but that technical glitches with the Electoral Commission’s online system prevented some entries from being finalised before the 28 August deadline. The IEC has rejected the ANC’s claims of a system malfunction and said it will not reopen nominations for any party or independent candidate.
The affected ANC submissions include municipalities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Mangaung metro in the Free State, as reported by News24 on 3 September. The IEC said close to 2,300 candidates from 45 political parties nationwide were not submitted by the deadline and could not be accepted.
“There were some glitches, glitches with regards to just the interface with the IEC system,” Ramaphosa said. “The candidates list was there for the whole country — they were submitted, and in regard to those areas, there were some glitches.”
IEC deputy CEO Masego Shiburi told SABC News that the commission’s system logs showed no failure during the period the ANC alleges problems. “We have looked at our logs, at our records, and on our part the system performed well in the time that the party alleges the system was not working,” he said.
The IEC opened its Online Candidate Nomination System on 21 June 2026, giving parties more than two months to capture candidate lists before the deadline closed at 17:00 on 28 August. In a statement reported by IOL on 2 September, the IEC said it had not allowed and did not intend to allow any party or independent candidate an additional capturing opportunity beyond the deadline.
Ramaphosa said the ANC was considering options including engagement with the IEC, the Political Party Liaison Committee, and the Electoral Court. EWN and eNCA both reported the party was exploring Electoral Court action, though no filing has been confirmed as of 4 September.
The dispute could determine whether the ANC appears on ballots in affected municipalities during the November local government elections. The party’s ability to contest every ward carries political weight, particularly in provinces where it faces competitive opposition and coalition dynamics.
This report was verified against reporting from Daily Maverick, SABC News, IOL, News24, EWN, and eNCA, with Cape Flats News journalist Thandi Mthethwa monitoring developments. The exact number of affected ANC candidates remains unclear, with figures ranging from under 200 to close to 2,300 across all parties.
The ANC has not confirmed whether it will formally approach the Electoral Court, and the IEC has given no indication it will reopen nominations. This desk will next check in on 6 September for updates on the ANC’s court decision and the IEC’s candidate list certification process.