Local government elections: ‘We’re ready for 27 October,’ says ANC DSG

With the Constitutional Court set to rule on the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) application to have the local government elections postponed, the African National Congress (ANC) says it remains ready come 27 October 2021.

The governing party held a media briefing on Monday evening, laying out the way forward for the municipal elections.

Former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke released a report which proposed that the elections be held no later than February 2022 after finding that it would be impossible to hold free and fair elections in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

“We are ready for 27 October and, if there will be a postponement from the Constitutional Court, we will be very happy. If the IEC allows us to review our list, we wouldn’t mind reviewing it. If not, this is our final list,” ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said.

Political parties had until 21:00 on Monday to submit their nominations for the municipal elections. The initial deadline had been 17:00 but the IEC then extended it by a few hours.

“We didn’t ask for a change of deadline. We didn’t ask for the deadline to be moved. The ANC didn’t instigate and ask for it. We are ready (for elections) and are waiting for the outcome of the Constitutional Court,” Duarte said.

ANC members facing criminal charges excluded

Jessie Duarte further said some members didn’t even participate in the selection process. Unlike other political parties, they are not unveiling their mayoral candidates.

“The percentage of retention is very low, but high in some areas. It is about 40-45%. There is a great number of people who have not been retained. We went to communities and asked them to participate in the selection process of our candidates. Unlike other parties, we don’t announce our mayoral candidates. Our list is a product of popular vote by community members,”

ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte

She added that several individuals who face criminal charges have been removed from the list, including mayors, all in line with the ANC’s contentious step-aside resolution.

“The ANC candidate selection process resulted in the nomination of close to 10 000 ward and proportional representative candidates. This was followed by rigorous screening and interviews by the regional interview and vetting panels and the provincial list committees,” the ANC has said.