More than 136,000 candidates cleared to contest November local government elections

IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo says more than 136,000 candidates have been cleared to contest the November 4 local government elections, as preparations enter their final stages.

More than 136,000 candidates will contest South Africa’s November 4 local government elections after 5,096 candidates were disqualified during the IEC’s statutory review process.

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said on Wednesday that 136,790 candidates had met the statutory requirements to contest seats across eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.

The candidates will compete for 10,526 seats, with the number of contestants significantly higher than in the 2021 local government elections.

Mamabolo said the finalisation of the candidate list marked an important stage in the election timetable.

“It provides political parties, independent candidates, and the public with certainty regarding the contestants who appear on the ballot paper.”

The final figure includes about 98,000 party-nominated candidates contesting ward seats, 38,000 candidates for proportional representation seats and 621 independent candidates contesting ward seats.

About 43,000 candidates will contest seats in metropolitan municipalities, 6,443 in district municipalities and 87,000 in local municipalities, he said.

The candidate nomination process closed on August 28, after parties and independent candidates were given the opportunity to submit their nominations either manually at IEC offices or through the commission’s online nomination portal.

The commission subsequently carried out further checks on candidate information, said Mamabolo.

On September 4, the IEC issued notices to parties and independent candidates requiring additional documentation for 1,280 nominated candidates.

A further process followed after the commission identified 550 candidates who had been nominated either by more than one political party, as an independent and by a party, or by multiple parties.

The notices affected 203 political parties and 28 independent candidates.

The affected parties were given until September 11 to decide whether to retain the candidates on their lists or replace them.