Mantashe calls for calm amid ANC candidate list debacle

African National Congress (ANC) National Chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, has called for calm and to allow for court processes to unfold over the failure to submit candidate lists on time with the Electoral Commission (IEC).

The party has attributed the debacle to a technical glitch affecting six municipalities, with most of them in the Eastern Cape.

Mantashe spoke to the media on the sidelines at the City Hall in Ku Gompo City where he was engaging faith-based organisations.

“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.”

The party’s provincial chairperson, Oscar Mabuyane, says they will hold a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting to discuss the matter further.

“The outcomes of the forensic that the SG has announced will help us account as the PEC, but remember, the lists were registered in HQ, not here. The province did its part; we concluded our lists. We went through the extended PEC meeting. We adopted our list and we sent people to make sure our lists are registered. So, the provincial secretary was leading, we were all there. We have a PEC meeting tomorrow since we had this sort of situation. We are expecting provincial legislative committee to report to the PEC so that the PEC can speak from a very informed position and we don’t go around speaking on the basis of gossip.”

LGE 2026 | ANC faces candidates list setback in Eastern Cape: