Overview
- The Constitutional Court heard the ANC’s application for leave to appeal on Monday, October 12, 2026, challenging an Electoral Court finding that disqualified the party’s candidate lists in six municipalities.
- The ANC says it uploaded all candidate details, annexures and paid deposits into the IEC’s online candidate nominations system (OCNS) before the deadline and that the only omission was not clicking the OCNS 'submit as final' button.
- The ANC’s lawyers argue that the Electoral Act and its regulations do not prescribe a separate final-click step and that a user-interface prompt is a software design feature rather than a statutory requirement.
- The IEC opposes the appeal, says the OCNS required a final submission to complete nominations, insists all parties must follow the same online process, and warns that reversing the decision could disrupt final election preparations.
- The court’s decision will decide whether the ANC’s lists remain off ballots in the six municipalities and could set a legal precedent on how electronic nomination systems and interface steps are treated under South African electoral law.