ANC Withdraws Application to Electoral Court to Have Candidate Registration Reopened

• The African National Congress will no longer be proceeding with its application to have the Electoral Court reopen candidate registration
• The ruling party has not made the reasons for taking back their application public, however, the decision came hours after the party filed court papers
• As it stands, the governing party will not be able to contest in the next local government elections at 93 municipalities

JOHANNESBURG - Just hours after submitting court papers requesting the Electoral Court to reopen local government elections candidate registration, the African National Congress has withdrawn its bid.

The ANC's legal representative Ntanga Nkhulu stated that they were given the mandate to withdraw the application, however, Nkhulu could not state the reasons the decision was taken, according to News24.

In submitted court documents, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte revealed that the party was unable to register candidates in 93 municipalities, 35 of which are regarded as crucial.

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Duarte stated that the party experienced technical difficulties on the date of the deadline. In addition to that, she stated that the ANC staff members were exhausted on the day and dome had been working for 16 hours, three days in a row.

"By 23 August, most of the staff involved had been working 16 hours a day for three consecutive days, under massive pressure," stated Duarte.

She also stated that Covid-19 regulations and restrictions made it difficult for staff members to meet the deadline with some staffers working from home. According to Duarte, not all staff members had access to a reliable internet connection as a result.

Political parties were prepared to take legal action against the ANC's application

Had the ANC proceeded with their application to reopen candidate registration, opposition political organisations stated that they were prepared to fight the ANC's bid, according to a report by SABC News.

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Parties such as the EFF and the DA expressed their discontent with the ANC's application and stated that they would be taking legal action to block registrations from reopening.

However, the UDM was in favour of the ANC's application and stated that they experienced similar technical difficulties as the ruling party did.

7 ANC municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal did not register candidates with IEC

Briefly News previously reported that approximately seven KwaZulu-Natal municipalities are among the 30 brought up by the African National Congress (ANC) that did not register with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Reports state that the candidates missed the deadline. A number of the impacted municipalities come from the Zululand District, which has five local councils. According to SABC News, the ANC has faced issues in the KZN area.

Recently, dissatisfied members took to the ANC's offices to submit complaints regarding the processes they go through to select candidates.

Over 200 disputes revolving around the ANC are from KZN. The party did, however, manage to put forward a few of their candidates' names in KZN, but there are others that are remaining.

Source: Briefly News