The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced a massive surge in political participation ahead of the upcoming local government elections in November, while clarifying that candidates who failed to finalise their applications are officially out of the running.

Addressing the media in Centurion on Wednesday, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya revealed that a staggering 142 072 candidates have been nominated to contest 10 526 council seats across South Africa’s municipalities.

The final tally when submissions officially closed at 17:00 last Friday marks a roughly 43% increase compared with the 2021 municipal elections, which saw 99 000 nominations filed.

On Tuesday the ANC claimed that on the final day of submission, the IEC’s candidate-capture system experienced technical issues that impacted several contesting political parties.

Moepya emphasised that the electoral commission was currently reviewing all submissions to ensure full compliance with legislative frameworks.

"This process includes verifying completed nomination acceptance forms, confirming deposit payments from political parties and independent candidates, and validating the lists of registered voters supporting independent hopefuls," Moepya said.

The rush to meet the cutoff created a late bottleneck that left thousands in limbo.

A total of 2 274 candidates were captured on the Online Candidate Nomination System (OCMS) but were not officially submitted by the deadline.

This impacted 480 proportional representation (PR) and 1 794 ward prospects across 45 unique political parties.

Moepya drew a firm line on these omissions, stating: "These potential candidates did not successfully submit their details and are officially out of contention for the upcoming elections."

For valid applications, the IEC's digital platform proved highly popular. The commission reported that 299 political parties and 127 candidates successfully used the OCMS.

Meanwhile, 205 political parties and 634 independent candidates opted to submit their documentation manually at various IEC offices nationwide.

The comprehensive breakdown of the 142 072 valid candidates includes 100 856 candidates nominated by political parties for ward seats, 40 241 candidates nominated by political parties for PR seats and 975 independent candidates contesting ward seats.

Political party contestation is exceptionally high across all tiers of government.

Locally, 546 out of the country's 732 registered political parties (75%) will actively participate in the local government elections.

At national level, 227 of the 345 registered parties (66%) are entering the race.

This intense democratic interest is mirrored locally, with 92% of provincial-level parties, 80% of metropolitan-level parties, and 82% of district-level parties fielding candidates.

Metropolitan battlegrounds are set to be the most fiercely contested in the country's history.

The City of Johannesburg leads the nation with the most crowded PR pool, featuring 80 political parties. This is followed closely by the City of Tshwane with 72 parties, eThekwini with 70, Ekurhuleni with 69, and the City of Cape Town with 55 parties.

Rounding out the top ten most contested municipalities are Emfuleni (43), Polokwane (40), Rustenburg (38), Nelson Mandela Bay (38), and the Capricorn District (38). As the IEC finalises its verification processes, the stage is set for an unprecedentedly competitive local government election.