In South Africa, ANC removed more than 350 candidates from lists ahead of local elections — Daily Maverick
In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) removed more than 350 municipal councillor candidates from its electoral lists several weeks before the local elections on November 4. According to Daily Maverick, this followed a screening process that included, among other things, information on criminal records and compliance with qualification requirements.
Screening before the vote
The publication notes that screening candidates itself is justified, as political parties must nominate people with an appropriate reputation and competence. At the same time, the article’s author believes that the mass removal of candidates at the final stage of the campaign points to problems in their selection system.
According to Daily Maverick, the deadlines for submitting candidate lists set by South Africa’s Electoral Commission leave little room for political recovery. Candidates removed so late have limited time to appeal the decision within the ANC or change their political platform before the vote.
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Risks for the ANC campaign
As the publication notes, each excluded candidate may have party branches, activists, volunteers, local connections and supporters behind them. Therefore, removing a name from a list does not necessarily eliminate the corresponding political infrastructure.
Daily Maverick suggests that the risk for the ANC may lie not only in candidates potentially publicly moving to other parties, but also in an informal weakening of the campaign. This includes, in particular, reduced activity by local organizers, the cessation of voter outreach and weaker mobilization of supporters on voting day.
The author also draws attention to competition for local politicians and activists from the Democratic Alliance, the Economic Freedom Fighters, the uMkhonto Wesizwe party, the Patriotic Alliance and other forces. In the publication’s view, the ANC should define a strategy for working with the removed candidates, their branches and supporters so that internal dissatisfaction does not become an advantage for the opposition.
