The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of the African National Congress (ANC), overturning an Electoral Court decision that excluded 181 of the party’s council candidates from contesting the 4 November 2026 local government elections in six municipalities.
In an order handed down on Thursday, 15 October, the court granted the ANC’s appeal and directed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to take all necessary steps to include the affected candidate nominations on the ballot papers and in other relevant election processes.
The dispute arose after the ANC’s candidate nominations were rejected because the party had not completed the final submission process on the IEC’s online nomination system before the deadline. The ANC challenged the decision, arguing that its candidates’ details had already been uploaded to the system.
The affected municipalities are Sundays River Valley, Walter Sisulu, Ngquza Hill and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, uMshwathi in KwaZulu-Natal and Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State.
Reacting to the judgment at Constitution Hill, ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, said the party had used lawful channels to challenge the decision, describing the right to vote as a fundamental constitutional right that should not be determined by a technical requirement on an online system. “When this movement believed that a right had been taken from our people, we walked up this hill with papers in our hands,” Mbalula said.
The ruling has also raised questions about the ANC’s relationship with the Democratic Alliance (DA), which opposed the appeal. Mbalula said the ANC would need to review its continued participation with the DA in the Government of National Unity (GNU), questioning whether the two parties remained aligned on the principles outlined in the GNU’s statement of intent.
“If any one of us works against it, that Parliament is too big. We must look for other partners,” he said, adding that nothing bound the ANC to remain in the GNU with the DA indefinitely. Mbalula stressed that the proposed review was a question of principle rather than an attempt to force the DA into agreement with the ANC on every issue.
He also defended the party’s legal challenge, arguing that the ANC was not seeking special treatment but recognition of nominations it maintained had been uploaded to the IEC system. He acknowledged that the party faced internal challenges, including alleged interference with candidate lists, which he said were being investigated.
The court also granted condonation for the late filing of the IEC’s answering affidavit and ordered that costs be observed. It said reasons for the order would be provided at a later stage.
The decision clears the way for the affected ANC candidates to be included in the electoral process, leaving the IEC to implement the order ahead of polling day on 4 November.