Local elections: ANC KZN backs Duarte over reopening of IEC registration window

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says it is fully behind the governing party’s move to approach the Electoral Court to force the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to reopen the candidate registration process.

ANC KZN secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said they were concerned about the number of municipalities the ANC could not register candidates for, for the upcoming local government elections set for October.

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Ntuli briefed the media on Tuesday following a special meeting of its provincial executive committee (PEC) that was held on Monday.

“The PEC expressed a serious concern that in a number of municipalities particularly in the Mzala Nxumalo, Inkosi Bhambatha and General Gizenga Maqina Mpanza regions, the ANC could not register a number of wards and proportional representation [PR] candidates,” he said.

Last week, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the party would approach the Electoral Court to force the IEC to open candidate registration for one extra day.

Duarte said the ANC faced a number of challenges when submitting its list of candidates to contest the polls. She said the IEC’s registration system repeatedly froze and locked its administrators out during the final few hours before the deadline last Monday.

This followed the closure of the IEC’s submission of candidates for registration ahead of the local polls, scheduled for 27 October 2021.

Affected municipalities

Ntuli said the ANC did not secure the registration of all PR candidates in Edumbe, Phongolo, Abaqulusi, Ulundi and Nongoma local municipalities.

“The ANC is also without wards candidates in oPhongolo wards 4, 10 and 11, Abaqulusi wards 1, 5 and 7, Nongoma wards 8, 9, 12 and 17, Ulundi wards 7 and 12. In General Gizenga Maqina Mpanza region we do not have ward candidates registered in KwaDukuza wards 2, 6, 10, 20, 22 and 24. In Ndwedwe wards 11, 12, 13 and 15. In Mandeni ward 15 and Maphumulo ward 2,” he said.

The provincial ANC said in Inkosi Bhambatha, it could not get candidates registered for uMzinyathi District Municipality and some wards in Umvoti Local Municipality and Nquthu Local Municipality.

Ntuli said the PEC was deeply concerned that this situation might lead to the replacement of the ANC as the governing party in some of these municipalities.

“The PEC believes that the organisation has learned some lessons with regards to the IEC electronic candidates’ registration with its glitches and attendant mistakes, and call on all ANC members to rally behind the national executive committee [NEC] in fixing the challenges emanating from the registration.

“It is in this context that the ANC PEC is fully behind the work done by the secretary-general’s office to petition the Electoral Court for the IEC to reopen the candidate’s registration,” Ntuli said.

Two weeks ago, the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) reserved judgment on the IEC’s urgent application seeking the postponement of the local polls to February next year.

The IEC filed its application at the ConCourt after former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke’s inquiry into the feasibility of holding elections this year found that the elections would likely not be free and fair, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions on gatherings.

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Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe.