Story audio is generated using AI
More than 2,200 candidates representing 45 political parties were entered into the online platform of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for the local government elections on November 4 but not officially submitted by the 5pm deadline on August 28, said IEC chair Mosotho Moepya.Of those, 480 were proportional representation candidates and 1,794 ward candidates.Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Moepya clarified that while the candidates’ details had been entered into the system, they were not formally submitted. “We don’t want to speculate as a commission about the reasons why. They were not submitted; they were captured,” he said.Moepya’s comments came after the IEC rejected the ANC’s claim that a technical glitch in the candidate-capture system had prevented the party from completing some councillor submissions. The IEC maintained that its online candidate nomination system remained fully operational throughout the nomination period, including up until the 5pm deadline on August 28. IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo also said there was no intention to reopen the online system. “We can confirm [there were] no reports of a nonfunctional system on the day [of the deadline]. The system was made available on June 21; parties could have exercised their capturing options from June 21.” Candidacy dataMoepya said 142,072 candidates were nominated to contest the municipal elections. A total of 299 political parties and 127 independent candidates used the online candidate nomination system to submit their lists, while another 205 political parties and 634 independent candidates submitted them manually. The IEC chair said 40,241 proportional representation candidates, 100,856 ward candidates, and 975 independent candidates would contest the elections, an increase of 43% in the participation rate in 2021.The nomination profile was dominated by candidates aged 35-55 years (58%), while those aged 41-45 years accounted for 16%. Municipalities that had the highest number of proportional representation contestants included Johannesburg (80), Tshwane (72), eThekwini (70), Ekurhuleni (69), Cape Town (55) and Nelson Mandela Bay (38). There were 227 political parties contesting at national level, 33 at provincial level, 49 at metro level and 237 at district level. Moepya said the IEC would embark on a candidate verification and finalisation process from September 4 to 16. Weakening democracy A separate report by the IEC has painted a disturbing picture of a weakening democratic culture in the country, with political engagement deteriorating to its lowest recorded levels since 2010. The IEC’s voter participation survey, conducted countrywide by the Human Sciences Research Council during 2025/26, found that support for democracy has weakened in recent years. The report states that data pointed to a “weakening democratic culture in South Africa, characterised by declining democratic commitment”. “Support for democracy as the preferred form of government has weakened substantially in recent years and now stands at just 35% in the 2025 voter participation survey, while political fatalism has risen to 34% and openness to nondemocratic alternatives to 26%.” That suggested democracy “no longer enjoys the dominant normative legitimacy it once did. Support for democracy was found to be weakest in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape.” Former president Jacob Zuma caused a stir a decade ago when he remarked, “If you just give me six months to be a dictator, things will be straight.” He made that statement in July 2016 while speaking to primary school pupils in Tembisa during the Mandela Month celebrations. The study found that while citizens continued to value core democratic principles such as free and fair elections, political freedoms and accountability, “the strength of commitment to these ideals has declined over time”. “In addition, there is a widening gap between the democratic principles that citizens regard as important and their perception of how well these are realised in practice. The most significant deficits are found in political responsiveness and electoral accountability, pointing to a growing sense that elected leaders do not listen and that governments are insufficiently held accountable through elections,” the study adds. “It is not surprising, therefore, to note that satisfaction with the way democracy is working remains exceptionally low, with only 19% of citizens in 2025 expressing satisfaction compared to 63% who are dissatisfied.” The study examined SA’s broader political landscape and factors that might influence voting behaviour, including public perceptions of government performance and attitudes toward democratic values, among others. “A careful analysis of the voter participation survey data has revealed that political engagement has deteriorated to its lowest recorded levels in more than a decade. We have observed declining trust in democratic institutions and rising voter disillusionment, as well as a significant withdrawal from electoral participation,” the report states. It called on the IEC to recognise that electoral participation in future government elections would be affected by political disillusionment and discontentment. According to the report, more than half (55%) of all citizens believe local election outcomes make little or no difference, while political engagement was found not only to be weak but had deteriorated to its lowest recorded levels since 2010. Business Day
