The African National Congress (ANC) has welcomed a Constitutional Court ruling that independent candidates only need 1 000 signatures instead of 15% of the vote to contest the 2024 national and provincial elections.

The party says that the judgment has vindicated Parliament, who opposed the matter.

Labelling the judgment as progressive, the party says that this avoids any uncertainties regarding the Independent Electoral Commission’s discharging of its constitutional mandate of ensuring free and fair elections.

“The ANC also welcomes the constitutional court’s unanimous judgment which dismissed the Independent Candidates’ Association South Africa’s challenge of the 200/200 split of National Assembly seats. The ANC agrees with the judgment that the 200/200 split passed the reasonableness test because it was grounded in proportional representation and would have little risk of ‘overhang’,” said ANC spokesperson Mahlengu Bhengu-Motsiri.

The party will now focus on its election campaign through ground mobilisation efforts and encouraging citizens to exercise their right to register to vote.