Fikile Mbalula Taken to High Court Over ANC List Exclusion of Andile Lungisa
- ANC NEC member Andile Lungisa filed papers in the Gauteng High Court challenging his removal from the party's PR candidate list
- The dispute centres on administrative errors that left 252 candidates, including Lungisa and Buffalo City contender Nocawe Mafu, off the final rolls
- Lungisa was eyeing a Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral run before the omission, with the ANC and Mbalula given until Monday to respond
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GAUTENG — ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula is facing urgent court action after National Executive Committee member Andile Lungisa filed papers in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg seeking to overturn his exclusion from the party's proportional representation candidate list ahead of local elections. This is because the party is fighting the IEC to extend the candidate submission deadline.
According to Africa Daily, the application, filed electronically by attorney Makangela Mtungani, names Mbalula as the official responsible for the submission process to the Electoral Commission of South Africa. Lungisa is asking the court to declare his omission unconstitutional and to order his immediate reinstatement to the candidate rolls.
How the list errors unfolded
At the root of the dispute are administrative failures linked to missing identity information for 252 candidate submissions submitted nationally. In Nelson Mandela Bay, those registration lapses resulted in Lungisa and Buffalo City contender Nocawe Mafu being left off the final candidate rolls, effectively shutting both out of their intended electoral contests.
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Lungisa had been building a credible campaign in Nelson Mandela Bay, backed by Eastern Cape regional branches who were positioning him to contest the metro. However, his candidacy was not without internal friction. The ANC Veterans' League had raised objections to his inclusion, citing his 2018 conviction for assaulting a Democratic Alliance councillor.
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Lungisa declines outside offers, stays ANC
Supporters of Lungisa have characterised the omission as deliberate manipulation within Luthuli House rather than a clerical oversight. Opposition grouping People's Power offered him alternative proportional representation seats, which Lungisa publicly turned down, indicating his intention to remain within ANC structures and contest through official party channels.
The ANC and Mbalula have until Monday to file a response to the court application.
DA opposes ANC at Electoral Court
In a related article, Briefly News reported on the Democratic Alliance’s legal challenge to the ANC’s bid to field candidates in six municipalities after missing the IEC’s nomination deadline. The DA has asked the Electoral Court to intervene in the ANC’s application, which seeks to have the late submissions recognised as valid.
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Source: Briefly News
