The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) is to be commended for remaining steadfast in upholding the rules regarding the submission of councillor candidates for the November 4 local government elections despite vehement objections by the ANC. These rules apply equally to all political parties, and no leniency should be shown to the ANC simply because of its historic dominance. To do so would open the door to further rule infringements and undermine the internationally recognised good reputation and credibility of the IEC. It has successfully overseen successive national, provincial and local government elections, and it is a pillar of our democratic order. At issue is the failure of the ANC to finally submit the full list of its local government election candidates by the 5pm, August 28 deadline. A total of 181 candidates were excluded from six municipalities — four in the Eastern Cape and one in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as those in the Mangaung metro in the Free State. According to the IEC, 2,274 prospective candidates from 45 political parties were captured on the system but not finally submitted as required. Adding to the ANC fiasco is its failure to register the name of its Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Frank Chikane, along with several other mayoral candidates, and having incorrectly recorded the ID numbers of 252 of its candidates on the IEC’s online nomination system. The ANC is adamant that a “technical glitch” in the final confirmation step in the IEC’s online nomination system meant that it could not submit complete candidate lists. The records of the affected candidates were captured before the deadline, however. The party has lodged an appeal application with the Electoral Court, asking it to set aside the commission’s refusal to accept the ANC’s full candidate list and to declare that the list entered into its system before the deadline should be accepted. The DA has asked the court for leave to intervene to oppose the application, insisting that “deadlines are deadlines”. The IEC insists that its system logs show no evidence of malfunction and that it remained fully operational throughout the nomination period. The matter is now in the hands of the court, which will decide the merits of the ANC’s case. The court has already rejected a bid by the registered United Democratic Front Party to extend the deadline, finding that the IEC has no statutory power to condone a missed statutory deadline for any particular political party. Without reflecting on the merits of the ANC’s case, it can be said that the saga serves to confirm the widely held perception about the internal disorganisation and disarray within the party, as clearly evidenced in the poorly run municipalities under its control throughout the country and in the deterioration of services, most starkly in Gauteng. Repeated polls have highlighted the sharp decline in confidence by the majority of South Africans in the party. It is pertinent to note that the nomination platform was available to parties from June 21 and one has to wonder why the ANC waited until the last day to submit its candidate lists. The incident is unfortunate in that voters in the affected municipalities would be robbed of their right to vote for the ANC should the matter not be resolved in its favour. But it would also serve as a bitter lesson for the ANC should it lose control of some municipal councils as a result of the blunder.Little wonder then that there are calls for those responsible to be held to account.Business Day