PRETORIA, Gauteng — The African National Congress (ANC) has formally called on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to investigate alleged technical failures within its candidate nomination system. ANC National Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu emphasized that a significant number of the party’s candidates were unexpectedly rejected by the online portal during the final stages of the lodgement process, prompting demands for a transparent probe into the discrepancy.
In a statement issued on August 31, the ANC highlighted that the IEC’s candidate capture system experienced technical issues on the day of lodgement, August 28. While the party had successfully uploaded its candidates well before the deadline, a final portion of the entries was reportedly “kicked out” by the system. According to Bhengu, the portal failed to provide standard validation slips or specific error feedback, such as flags for invalid identity numbers or surname discrepancies, leaving the ANC team unable to rectify the issue in real time.
The situation has sparked a notable disconnect between the ruling party and the electoral body. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo recently indicated that he was either unaware of any technical glitch or that no such malfunction occurred. In response, Bhengu clarified that the ANC is not outright accusing the IEC of misleading the public, but rather insisting on a thorough, collaborative investigation to resolve the conflicting accounts.
“We are asking for an investigation as to how it is that that final portion of the candidates of the ANC were not acknowledged,” Bhengu stated. The spokesperson noted that the party is open to utilizing independent experts to determine exactly what transpired during the final minutes of the uploading process.
The ANC stressed that it is not requesting any special condonation, the admission of candidates whose details were never successfully captured, or any reordering outside the established electoral rules. Instead, the focus remains on protecting the integrity of the ANC’s rigorous, participatory candidate selection process, which includes community votes and extensive security vetting ratified by the National Executive Committee.
Addressing questions about last-minute submissions, Bhengu attributed the timing to the ANC’s laborious and highly participatory internal processes, noting that final ratifications and vetting adjustments sometimes necessitate late-stage confirmations.
The technical discrepancies reportedly affect over 150 candidates, combining proportional representation (PR) and ward lists, out of the nearly 10,000 candidates the ANC had already successfully captured in the system. The affected areas are described as ANC strongholds, including specific municipalities in the Eastern Cape (such as Port St. Johns), Mangaung in the Free State, and one municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
With the democratic process slated for November 4, the ANC maintains that resolving this matter is crucial to ensuring that communities who participated in the candidate selection process can exercise their democratic choice without administrative disenfranchisement. The party confirmed that engagements with the IEC remain ongoing through established liaison structures to bring the outstanding matters to a fair and transparent close.