News24 | ACDP backs ConCourt’s ANC ‘submit as final’ ruling as party recalls own 2006 case

ACDP MP Steve Swart says he doesn’t expect that the judgment will have a material outcome on the elections, “given the ANC’s rapid decline in voter support across the country”.

Zwelethemba Kostile/RSA Parliament

• The Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the ANC, allowing its candidates to contest in six municipalities where it missed the submission deadline for the 2026 local elections.
• The ACDP compared the ruling to its 2006 case, highlighting the court’s focus on promoting enfranchisement and democratic participation.
• Other parties, including the MKP and FF Plus, criticised the judgment, citing concerns over fairness, judicial impartiality and the ANC’s governance failures.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

As political parties reacted to the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the ANC’s favour in its case regarding the submission of election candidate lists, the ACDP recalled that it had once received a similar ruling.

The ANC asked the Constitutional Court to overturn an Electoral Court ruling that upheld the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) exclusion of the party’s candidates from six municipalities in the 4 November local government elections.

The dispute arose from the ANC’s failure to press the “submit as final” button in the commission’s online candidate nomination system for six municipalities before the 17:00 deadline on 28 August 2026, despite having uploaded all required candidate information and paid the necessary deposits.

On Thursday morning, the Constitutional Court handed down its ruling; the majority agreed with the ANC.

The apex court ordered that the IEC must do everything necessary to include the party’s candidates on the ballot in the six municipalities where it failed to press “submit as final”.

The court will hand down its reasons at a later stage.

READ | Mbalula collapses after ConCourt rules for ANC in candidate lists case

In a statement, ACDP MP Steve Swart said many might disagree with the judgment, but it does “underscore the importance of ensuring that electoral processes serve the constitutional right of citizens to participate in democratic elections and to vote for the candidates and parties of their choice”.

“This is not unlike the situation the ACDP faced in the 2006 local government elections, when the IEC ruled that the party had not paid the required election deposit to contest in the Cape Town metropolitan area,” said Swart.

He said:

The party argued that it had paid the deposit, but the Electoral Court found the opposite and excluded it from contesting in that area.

“However, on appeal, the Constitutional Court ruled in the ACDP’s favour, referring to the values contained in Section 19 of the Constitution, which require a court of law and the Electoral Commission, when interpreting provisions in electoral statutes, to seek to promote enfranchisement rather than disenfranchisement and participation rather than exclusion.”

Swart suspects that the same constitutional principle was applied in the ANC’s case.

Swart noted that the ACDP’s participation in that election allowed it to form part of the coalition that unseated the ANC in Cape Town.

He didn’t expect that the judgment would have a material outcome on the elections, “given the ANC’s rapid decline in voter support across the country”.

Some other parties were less enthused about the ruling.

READ | IEC readies contingency plans as ConCourt mulls ANC candidate lists saga

The MK Party (MKP) expressed “its deep disappointment” with the Constitutional Court judgment.

“The MK Party is concerned that this judgment raises serious questions about equality before the law, the consistent application of electoral rules and public confidence in the impartial administration of justice,” reads a statement from MKP spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu.

“The MK Party demands that the same relief be extended to all other political parties in the same or materially similar circumstances. No political party should receive preferential treatment, and no party should be denied equivalent consideration without a lawful and defensible justification.”

The MKP, led by Jacob Zuma, said members of the public were entitled to expect consistency from the country’s courts.

“The relationship between political power and the administration of justice must never give rise to a perception that one political party enjoys an advantage before the law. While political connections alone do not establish judicial interference, the public is entitled to expect that every judgment is reached independently and that legal principles are applied consistently,” reads Mahlangu’s statement.

FF Plus leader Corné Mulder described the ruling as “strange and problematic”.

He said in a statement that despite his party’s disagreement with the ruling, it respects the judiciary.

“The judgment puts the ANC in a position to still contest the election in Mangaung, despite administrative failures and internal conflict.

Mulder said:

The fact that the ANC failed to submit its candidate lists before the deadline typifies its governance style, where it is in power, on the national or local government level. It is characterised by sheer incompetence and the inability to comply with even the most basic requirements.

“Recent events once again demonstrate to voters that the ANC simply cannot govern properly – and they should take note. This is exactly who and what the ANC is.”

The DA had opposed the ANC’s application in court.

Shortly after the ruling, DA federal council chairperson Ashor Sarupen said that the judgment “raises serious concerns about the precedent it sets for complying with the IEC’s deadlines and requirements as the courts have held that strict mechanical compliance applies to deadlines in every matter up to now”.

“The ANC has now succeeded in court to [undo] their own failure to submit candidate lists in six municipalities,” he said.

“However, this will not change their electoral fortunes. The ANC is in terminal decline, and across South Africa its support is at record lows.”

Newsletter

Weekly

Memo from the Political Desk

News24's politics desk makes sense of the shifting power dynamics across the country, analysing the decisions, compromises and the consequences for South Africa.