By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Electoral Court has dismissed the African National Congress’s (ANC) appeal over the candidate list submission captured in the Online Candidates Nomination System (OCNS) for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) on 4 November 2026.
ANC had sought to have the court compel the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to capture the candidates it had already uploaded onto the OCNS as “submitted” on the August 28 deadline.
The court handed down its order on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, after holding a virtual sitting late Tuesday afternoon to hear arguments from the ANC and the IEC.
The court granted the Democratic Alliance (DA) leave to intervene in the matter, while dismissing the ANC’s appeal.
It also found that the African Transformation Movement (ATM) application to intervene was not properly done before the court because it had been brought “inordinately late” and without an application for condonation.
There was no order as to costs.
The ANC has now said it will pursue the next legal step.
“Having considered the judgment, the ANC will exercise its legal rights and pursue the appropriate appeal process. Our legal representatives will engage the court on the legal questions arising from the judgment,” ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said.
Bhengu said, the party respected the court and the judicial process, but maintained that its case was not about seeking preferential treatment.
“The ANC respects the courts and the judicial process. We have consistently maintained that this matter is not about seeking preferential treatment for the ANC, nor about asking the Electoral Commission to change the rules for the benefit of our organisation.”
Instead, the ANC said the dispute concerned the legal status of candidate information it maintained had been captured on the IEC’s electronic system before the deadline.
“It concerns the legal status of candidate information that the ANC maintains was captured into the IEC’s electronic system before the prescribed deadline, added Bhengu.”
The dispute affects 181 ANC candidates in the six municipalities : Port St Johns, Ngquza Hill, Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal and Mangaung in the Free State.