African National Congress (ANC) deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told the electoral court the ANC's incomplete candidates list, ahead of the local government elections, affected 93 of the 257 municipalities. 

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) refused to extend the deadline for political parties to submit its candidates lists as part of the election timetable. 

The ANC asked the court to instruct the IEC to extend the election timetable - in the interest of free and fair elections. 

"On the whole, 93 municipalities out of 257 are affected. Of these, the incomplete candidates list will have a significant impact in 35 municipalities, which will result in a change of government, or change in the main opposition without a single vote being cast," Duarte said in her affidavit.

The ANC has attributed its delay to a myriad of issues, including the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

"Firstly, in 13 municipalities, the ANC will be out of government without contesting and offering the voters the choice to vote for us, because we will not be in on the PR ballot because our candidates' names were not submitted in time," Duarte said. 

She said, in a further six municipalities, due to the late registration of PR candidates and "the subsequent disqualification that will follow, of all but two ward candidates per affected municipality, the ANC will lose its status as the main opposition party without a single vote being cast".

In nine municipalities, the ANC will lose its status as the governing party, without a vote being cast, due to insufficient ward candidates being entered on time, the court was told. 

Duarte said the ANC would lose its status as the main opposition party in seven municipalities for the same reason.

She said, "This means that the outcome in certain municipalities has already been predetermined. This prejudice to the ANC, as the largest political party is manifest, and, if the situation is not rectified, the election is not free and fair. In other words, if the timetable is not amended, the ANC and all other political parties will be subjected to an election that is not free and fair. It is for this reason that we seek to review and set aside the commission's decision not to amend the election timetable."

While the Democratic Alliance said it would oppose the application, other political parties said they would support the ANC's bid to extend the deadline. 

The ANC argued that it suffered technical difficulties in uploading the candidates list to the IEC portal. 

"The commission was aware that political parties were experiencing technical difficulties in uploading and submitting their candidates lists. Despite being aware of this, the commission refused to extend the deadline at the ANC's and the United Democratic Movement's behest.

"The commission's refusal to do so, in light of the technical and other challenges, evidences that it was well aware that it would not be fulfilling its constitutional and statutory obligations to hold a free and fair election," Duarte said. 

The party further argued that the IEC's election timetable was unreasonable from the onset.