CENTURION - South Africa’s 2026 local government elections are shaping up to be a crowded contest, with more than 143,000 candidates nominated to stand in November.
That’s a 43 percent increase from the 99,000 nominations recorded in 2021.
More than 520 political parties have indicated they will participate, compared with 323 parties that showed interest in the previous local elections.
READ: IEC denies giving ANC extra time for 2026 election candidate lists
But thousands of hopeful candidates have already been ruled out.
The Electoral Commission says 2,274 candidates were captured on its online nomination system but were never formally submitted.
Several political parties, including the ANC, are affected.
And the IEC says there will be no grace period for those who missed the deadline.
eNCA’s Moloko Moloto reports.
Read more: D-Day for parties as IEC candidate list deadline looms