The ANC has won its case against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which must now include all the party’s candidate lists on the ballot for the local government election.

Last month, the ANC claimed that the IEC’s candidate-capture system experienced technical disruptions on the final submission day, resulting in the candidate lists for six municipalities being rejected by the IEC.

The Electoral Court ruled in favour of the IEC, after which the ANC appealed to the Constitutional Court to have the ruling overturned.

The apex court set aside the IEC’s decision and ruled that it must include all the ANC’s lists on the ballot.

While the win bolsters the ANC ahead of the election, the DA is warning that the judgment raises “serious concerns” about the precedent it sets for complying with the IEC’s deadlines and requirements.

“The ANC has now succeeded in court to undoing their own failure to submit candidate lists in 6 municipalities. However, this will not change their electoral fortunes. The ANC is in terminal decline, and across South Africa its support is at record lows,” said DA Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen.

He further said the DA was focused on winning wards outright in this election.

“The reality is that the DA is not in the GNU to go along to get along, and we will vigorously defend the rule of law and the equal application of the law,” he added.