EDITORIAL | ANC is walking a political tightrope that may very well snap

The ruling ANC was thrown a lifeline by the IEC on Monday when it announced it would allow political parties and independents more time to register candidates for upcoming local government elections. The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that ANC insiders believed a Constitutional Court ruling against the postponement of the polls opened the door for the IEC to allow the party to complete the registration process. It was a life-or-death reprieve for the ANC that failed spectacularly in fielding candidates in more than 30% of municipalities. Those believing the ConCourt judgment signalled a second chance were correct in their assessment. The ANC won this round, but victory is a long way off. It can only blame itself for this mess.

The candidate’s list flop is just the latest episode in a series of events exposing the governing party’s inability to get the basics right. This is the same ANC that has not been able to regularly pay its staff salaries, even turning to crowdfunding in a bid to make payroll. It is the same ANC that is accused of not making UIF and provident fund payments, the latter shortfall believed to be more than R70m. In May TimesLIVE reported the SA Revenue Service (Sars) had garnisheed the ANC’s IEC allocation funds, some R17m, as part-payment for its ballooning tax bill. The only silver lining here is that Sars in this case operated without political interference. 

Now that the IEC has said it would allow political parties more time to register candidates for local government elections between October 27 and November 1, the ball is back in the ANC’s court.

While the ANC tried to navigate its way around the sticky local government situation, its officials were running around like headless chickens. First it decided to turn to the Electoral Court, filing 150 pages of papers asking for an additional 36 hours on the IEC website to field its final list of candidates after missing the August 23 deadline. Just hours later, the same party withdrew the court application.

Now that the IEC has said it would allow political parties more time to register candidates for local government elections between October 27 and November 1, the ball is back in the ANC’s court. It has until to September 23 to undo its mistake. Failure will be political suicide.

Even if it manages to meet the new deadline, the party will not be out of the woods. Besides its internal woes of fund shortages and seriously demotivated and unpaid staff, at least two opposition parties - the DA and IFP - have indicated they are seeking legal advice on whether the IEC decision to reopen registration could be opposed. The IEC has denied showing favouritism, but if the matter does end up in court, it will need to have its ducks in a row to explain the thinking behind its decision-making.  

The IEC’s slight reprieve might be too little too late for a governing party that has repeatedly proven it cannot be entrusted with the mechanics of governing a country.