The ANC seems to have backtracked on its assertion that technical glitches in the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC’s) system were to blame for the party’s failure to submit full candidates’ lists for the upcoming local government election.
In a press conference on Tuesday after the ANC’s national executive committee meeting at the weekend, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the IEC could not be blamed for the ANC’s failure to submit its candidate nominations in 35 of the country’s 257 municipalities.
In August, Duarte blamed the IEC for the blunder, saying: “The IEC system repeatedly froze and locked our administrators out during the final few hours before the deadline, data already entered was voided and had to be re-entered.”
On Tuesday, however, Duarte changed her tune and said: “What really happened is the following: in about 300 wards, people had been put on [nomination] lists and there were digits missing on their ID numbers. The IEC did not open for corrections immediately; when they started doing so, that number reduced.”
She said the party had failed to register candidates in about “35-odd municipalities”. “The IEC system closed at 9.30pm ... while a lot of [ANC] papers came in at 9.38pm. We have to tell the truth. And that lot was not accepted by the IEC. It’s not the IEC’s fault. The provincial list committee ... kept changing names. When you change a name, the system takes off everything else, that’s exactly what happened to us,” the ANC deputy secretary-general said.
As a result 359 candidates were not registered on the IEC system, said Duarte, stressing: “Whatever happened we cannot blame the IEC system ... we do know that ... we were late.”
The IEC, which rejected the ANC’s call to reopen the candidate nomination submission process last week, reconsidered its decision after seeking legal advice after the Constitutional Court judgment on Friday which said elections could not be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision, which sparked an outcry from opposition political parties, was viewed as a victory for the ANC as it had stood to lose control of, or votes in, big metros including the capital city Tshwane and Mangaung.
The DA and IFP have threatened legal action over the IEC’s decision, which came days after the Constitutional Court ruled that the local government election must take place between October 27 and November 1 and that the voters’ roll should be reopened.
The parties said the decision was aimed at benefiting the ANC and smacked of “political bias”. Duarte disagreed: “We said nothing about what should happen with the IEC. We only hoped the IEC would take legal and democratic decisions ... we reject accusations made that the ANC tried to influence the IEC in anyway whatsoever. We did not. We cannot.”
DA national spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said the party had briefed its lawyers over its disagreement with the IEC’s interpretation of the Constitutional Court’s order. An update would be given once legal papers had been filed, she said.
The IEC’s CEO, Sy Mamabolo, has said the decision to reopen the candidate registration process was not taken recklessly.
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