Gwede Mantashe, the African National Congress National Chairperson, has called for calm within party ranks as the ANC battles the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in court over its failure to submit candidate lists for six municipalities in the 2026 local government elections. Addressing faith-based organisations at City Hall in Qonce, Eastern Cape, on 13 September, Mantashe attributed the missed deadlines to a technical glitch in the IEC’s Online Candidate Nomination System, which he claimed affected 45 political parties.

“97% of our candidates have been submitted successfully; 3% is outstanding. That is why we have a court case because our report is that there was a technical glitch in the system and there are 45 parties affected. So, let’s wait for the court case to come. When you deal with problems you don’t blame. Once you begin to blame, you will not get a solution,” Mantashe said.

IEC Audit Trail Contradicts ANC’s Technical Glitch Account

Court filings by the IEC reveal that its audit trail recorded no system activity for the Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns municipalities during the final two hours before the candidate list submission deadline on 28 August. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said automated emails were sent to ANC officials on 26 August warning that numerous municipal lists had not been submitted as final, giving the party a full two days to act.

The ANC successfully submitted ward and proportional representation lists for Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality just minutes before the 5pm cut-off, which the commission says demonstrates the system was operational. “I deny that at 16h57, the ANC’s administration were logged out of the OCNS and returned to the landing page. This is not borne out by the objective evidence. Even if they were, they could log back in,” Mamabolo stated in the IEC’s answering affidavit.

Internal Fallout And Provincial Blame Game

The candidate list debacle has exposed deep internal tensions, with ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula reportedly facing a backlash over the handling of the submissions. Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson Oscar Mabuyane insisted that the province had done its part, telling the gathering that the lists were finalised at the provincial level and sent to party headquarters in Johannesburg for registration.

The dispute affects just under 200 ward and proportional representation candidates across six municipalities: Mangaung and Lejweleputswa in the Free State, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal, and Port St Johns, Ingquza Hill, and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape. The party retains ward candidates in four councils but risks losing both ward and PR candidacies in Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns. The Electoral Court is expected to rule on the ANC’s application in the coming days, determining whether the party’s candidates for the affected municipalities will be reinstated.