Political parties and independent candidates contesting the August 3 local government elections have until next week to submit lists of candidates nominated for wards and district councils to the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).

With the proclamation of the August 3 local government elections by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister David van Rooyen, the IEC said its calendar for the next 72 days until election day has now been set in motion.

“Proclamation also triggers the opening of candidate nominations for the elections. Political parties have until 17H00 on Thursday 2 June 2016 to submit their list of nominations for ward candidates, proportional representation candidates and district council candidates,” the IEC said.

“Nominations for independent candidates to contest ward elections must also been submitted by 17H00 on 2 June 2016.”

Political parties have to pay R482 000 in order to contest in all municipal councils. Independent candidates contesting should be a registered voter in the municipality in which they are contesting and pay a R1 000 fee to the IEC.

The IEC said it has also launched an online candidate nomination system through which nominations can be submitted electronically. The development is a first in Africa, said the IEC.

“The system is designed to speed up and simplify the process of submitting candidate nomination lists for elections by allowing parties to capture their own information and then submit it electronically via the internet before deadline.”

Parties and independent candidates who preferred to submit nominations manually can do so at the local IEC office for the municipality in which they are contesting.

At least 53 757 candidates contested the previous local government elections in 2011, including 754 independent candidates.