The African National Congress (ANC) has told its national executive committee it will submit more than 10,000 candidates for the local government elections on 4 November, but ongoing disputes in the Eastern Cape continue to complicate the finalisation of lists ahead of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) deadline this Friday.
Numbers, process and urgency
Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC’s extended National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the organisation intends to present 4,488 ward councillor candidates and 6,000 proportional representation (PR) candidates, describing the planned slate as “wall-to-wall”.
The ANC must submit completed lists to the IEC by 5pm on Friday. Bhengu said the party had already begun uploading candidates onto the IEC’s system and that NEC members were working through provincial lists to ensure compliance with party selection rules and balancing guidelines.
| Category | Number of candidates |
|---|---|
| Ward | 4,488 |
| Proportional representation (PR) | 6,000 |
| Total | more than 10,000 |
Representation and internal checks
Bhengu said the NEC was also examining the gender and youth balance on lists. The party is assessing both the substantive and descriptive representation of women to ensure meaningful inclusion, and is working to increase youth representation through the list-balancing process.
She said the ANC was satisfied with the role branches had played and with the extent of community input considered in candidate selection, though the presence of disputes in provinces such as the Eastern Cape suggests tensions remain in finalising some submissions.
Eastern Cape disputes and local implications
The NEC’s rush to finalise lists was reported alongside continuing candidate disputes in the Eastern Cape. While Bhengu did not provide details of the provincial disagreements, unresolved contests over nominations can delay final list publication, complicate campaign planning and risk legal challenges after lists are lodged with the IEC.
For voters and municipal stakeholders in the Eastern Cape, the timing matters. Municipalities, election staff and voters rely on final candidate lists to organise ward meetings, prepare ballot papers and allow opposition parties and civil-society organisations to vet submissions for compliance with electoral rules.
“Wall-to-wall,” Bhengu said, describing the party’s intention to have a presence in all municipalities and districts.
- Deadline pressure: The ANC must submit final lists to the IEC by 5pm on Friday.
- Potential for legal disputes: Candidate challenges that remain unresolved when lists are lodged could lead to internal appeals or court applications.
- Local planning impact: Municipalities and election officials need confirmed candidate lists to finalise logistics ahead of voting day on 4 November.
What happens next
After lists are submitted, the IEC will proceed with administrative checks and prepare for ballot-printing and the logistical operations required for the local government elections. Any party list that is successfully challenged internally or in court before the IEC’s cut-off may still be altered; however, late challenges risk being ruled out if they fall outside statutory timelines or the IEC’s administrative windows.
Across the country the ANC expects its nationwide presence to become evident once the internal list process is concluded and campaigns move to the ground. The NEC had already considered lists from provinces including Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, with the remaining provinces — including the Eastern Cape — under review at the extended meeting.
With voting day set for 4 November, time is tight. The ANC’s ability to resolve internal disputes and present balanced, compliant lists to the IEC will be a crucial test of its organisational capacity ahead of an election season in which local governance performance and service delivery are expected to be central voter concerns.
(Reporting by Hope Ntanzi; this account summarises information presented by the ANC at its NEC meeting.)
