ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has admitted that the party’s candidate nomination process was flawed after an internal review uncovered more than 200 unverified identity numbers submitted during branch meetings.
The admission comes as the ANC battles to resolve a separate dispute with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) over candidate information that was not formally submitted before the 28 August deadline for the 2026 local government elections.
Mbalula addressed the issue during a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Tuesday, saying the party was reviewing its own processes while continuing with its legal challenge against the IEC.
Internal review exposes gaps
According to Mbalula, the ANC’s internal review found that some branches submitted names and identity numbers that had not been properly checked against the party’s national records.
He said the nomination process involved nine stages, beginning with branch meetings and moving through regional and national structures. However, verification checks were not consistently carried out at every stage.
“The National Executive Committee approved the list on the 25th August, and ratified them on 27th August, the day before the deadline,” Mbalula said.
He said the findings had prompted the ANC to examine where the verification process broke down and who was responsible for ensuring candidate information was accurate before it reached the IEC.
The party has also acknowledged that its own electoral structures, provincial secretaries and chairpersons were responsible for confirming candidate lists before they were captured on the IEC system.
Dispute with IEC continues
The revelations come against the backdrop of the ANC’s increasingly contentious dispute with the IEC.
The governing party previously said technical difficulties with the IEC’s candidate-capture system prevented it from submitting some candidates by the 28 August deadline. The IEC has disputed that its system was responsible for the ANC’s failure to complete the process.
Mbalula has since stressed that the ANC did not specifically accuse the IEC of causing the glitch.
“We did not say the glitch is because of the IEC… we said there was a glitch,” he said.
The ANC has taken the matter to the Electoral Court, asking that candidate information which it says had already been captured and stored by the IEC before the deadline be processed.
Mbalula said the party was not asking to add new candidates, alter lists or extend the nomination deadline.
“We asked to add no names. We asked to change no list. We asked for no late nomination and no extension of any deadline,” he said.
The dispute affects candidates in several municipalities, with the ANC arguing that the problems were linked to difficulties experienced during the submission process.
ANC wants stronger verification system
Mbalula said the party now plans to strengthen its membership database and introduce more rigorous verification of identity numbers.
One of the proposals is to establish links between the ANC’s systems, the Department of Home Affairs and the IEC so that identity information can be verified automatically rather than relying solely on manual checks.
The move is aimed at preventing similar problems in future election cycles and ensuring that candidate information is checked before lists reach the electoral authority.
The ANC’s candidate-list controversy has already triggered criticism from within its own ranks, with some party members questioning how the organisation could have allowed errors and omissions to emerge so close to the election deadline.
Mbalula defends the IEC
Despite the ANC’s court challenge, Mbalula said the party was not questioning the credibility of the electoral commission.
He described the IEC as a crucial institution in South Africa’s democracy and rejected attempts to portray the ANC’s legal action as an attack on the integrity of the electoral process.
“We are proud of the institution the Commission is,” Mbalula said.
“The Electoral Commission is an exemplary institution by any global standard. There is no question about its integrity, or about its standing as a guardian of our democracy and of the right to vote, which was bled for.”
The comments are significant because the IEC has repeatedly maintained that political parties were required to meet the prescribed nomination deadline.
Former IEC chairperson Terry Tselane has also pointed to a 2021 Constitutional Court ruling which found that the election timetable can be amended in limited circumstances, including where this is necessary to ensure free and fair elections or where election day itself has been postponed.
Eastern Cape list also under investigation
Mbalula further confirmed that a forensic investigation is underway into changes made to the ANC’s Eastern Cape candidate list after it had been compiled and approved through the party’s branch structures.
The provincial leadership is expected to account for what was changed and why.
Mbalula said his office had deliberately been kept out of decisions concerning candidate lists to avoid any perception that he was interfering with the process because of his position as secretary-general.
The ANC has maintained that it remains focused on its election campaign ahead of the 4 November local government elections, despite the controversy surrounding the candidate submissions.
The party now faces the dual challenge of defending its Electoral Court case while repairing weaknesses in an internal nomination system that Mbalula has admitted failed to consistently verify candidate identity information.
