ANC Candidate List Errors Hit eThekwini And Ray Nkonyeni Ahead Of Elections

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has acknowledged candidate-list errors affecting several municipalities ahead of the November 4 local government elections. The party said technical problems during the capturing and loading of its lists resulted in a small number of candidates being assigned to incorrect wards in eThekwini and Ray Nkonyeni.

ANC provincial task team co-ordinator James Nxumalo disclosed the glitches during a media briefing on Thursday.

The party stressed that the errors did not originate from its internal candidate-selection process. It said the selection of candidates had been completed across all 921 wards in the province before the lists were lodged with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) within the required deadline. The ANC plans to contest every ward in KwaZulu-Natal with 2,001 candidates.

ANC Candidate List Errors Affect eThekwini Wards

The ANC candidate list errors resulted in candidates being incorrectly reflected against some wards in eThekwini. In one instance, the candidates selected for Wards 65 and 90 were accidentally switched during the list-loading process.

The party said its original provincial submission had been checked and the candidates should be returned to their correct wards.

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A second error was identified involving Wards 6 and 91. Candidates for the two wards were also inadvertently exchanged while the lists were being loaded. The ANC said the original submissions had been verified and that it had requested the necessary amendments.

“The Provincial Task Team has directed that the necessary corrections be effected without delay to ensure our final electoral records accurately reflect the will of our branches.”

The party said these technical problems occurred after the candidate-selection process had already been completed.

It maintained that the names submitted through its internal structures were correctly determined before the subsequent capturing process. The corrections are intended to ensure the final electoral records correspond with the original submissions.

ANC Candidate List Errors Found In Ray Nkonyeni

The ANC candidate list errors also affected several wards in Ray Nkonyeni Municipality. A candidate correctly submitted for Ward 36 was additionally recorded against Wards 3 and 16, prompting the party to review the original submissions. The ANC said it identified the correct candidates and submitted requests for the affected records to be corrected.

Another problem involved Wards 34 and 19, where one candidate appeared on both lists. According to the party, that candidate had correctly been submitted for Ward 34, while the candidate intended for Ward 19 had been left off the list. The ANC said it had confirmed the correct allocation and asked for the Ward 19 candidate to be restored.

The party said its candidate-selection process covered all 11 regions and 54 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. It began with First Branch General Meetings, followed by community meetings and Final Branch General Meetings before the results were consolidated through regional structures and the Provincial List Committee.

The ANC described the process as one of its most peaceful in recent years. The consolidated outcomes were subsequently subjected to dispute resolution and vetting in line with the party's procedures. Matters that could not be resolved at provincial level were referred to the National Election Committee under the applicable national guidelines.

ANC Candidate List Errors Follow Selection Of 2,001 Candidates

The ANC said the Provincial Task Team's responsibility was to co-ordinate and provide support rather than exercise unilateral control over candidate lists.

Of the 2,001 candidates submitted across KwaZulu-Natal, the party said the vast majority were captured and lodged without problems. It added that more than one-third of its candidates were women and nearly one-third were young people.

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“Of the 2,001 candidates put forward across the province, the overwhelming majority were captured and submitted without difficulty,” the party said.

A separate matter involving the ANC's proportional representation list in uMshwathi remains under consideration. The party said the issue stemmed from technical difficulties with its list submission and was being handled at national level. It declined to provide further comment while the matter remains unresolved.

“As such, we cannot comment any further on this matter,” it said, adding that responsible structures had been given firm timeframes to close the remaining matters.

The ANC has now shifted its attention towards campaigning ahead of the November elections. The party launched its KwaZulu-Natal manifesto in Cornubia, north of Durban, on August 30, with candidates subsequently being unveiled as its campaign activities continued across the province.