Judgment due in ANC-IEC dispute

The Electoral Court in Bloemfontein will hand down its ruling in the ANC-IEC candidate submission battle later on Wednesday morning.

Judgment was reserved last night after two and a half hours of legal wrangling, which stems from the ANC’s alleged failure to submit its councillor candidates for the 4 November local polls.

The party cited a technical glitch on the IEC system, which it says prevented it from submitting more than 180 candidates before the 28 August deadline. The IEC has since refuted the claim.

On Tuesday evening, the ANC’s lawyer Advocate Daniel Burger told the court that his client’s candidates are unlawfully being excluded from participating in the forthcoming local polls.

At least 181 ANC candidate names were not captured and uploaded on the IEC system before the commission’s submission deadline on 28 August.

The IEC, represented by Advocate Terry Motau SC, dismissed the ANC’s case, saying the party understood the rules of the game and knew very well that there was no glitch at the point of submission.

The DA’s lawyer, Michael Bishop, opposed the ANC’s application, arguing that rigid adherence to election deadlines is essential to free and fair elections, and that deadlines must apply equally to every political party wishing to contest an election.

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