By As the election date is drawing closer, political parties and independent candidates are busy finalising their candidate lists with the Electoral Commission (IEC). The IEC has called on all parties and independent candidates running for elections to revise their lists and inform the Commission if their candidates appear in other party lists.
According to the IEC, 42 candidates appear on more than one party list implicating 39 parties. The Commission says one candidate was nominated as an independent and also appeared on a list of a party.
“The focus in the evolving candidate nomination process shifts to a period within which interested persons may inspect the lists of candidates and raise objections against candidates. To this end, the Commission will on Tuesday 26 March, and Wednesday 27 March 2024, between 09h00 and 17h00 make the lists with the names of independent and political party candidates available for inspection at its national office, each of its nine provincial offices and local offices in each municipality. Copies of the documents accompanying the lists are available for inspection at the Commission’s national office between 09h00 and 17h00,” explained Kate Bapela, the Spokesperson of the IEC.
Bapela says in all, 14 662 candidates have been nominated to contest the 887 seats available in the National Assembly and the nine legislatures. The spread of the candidates is as follows: 4 323 candidates have been nominated to contest the compensatory seats in the National Assembly (contested by parties only), 3 596 candidates have been nominated to contest the regional seats in the National Assembly (contested by party candidates and independents) and 6 743 candidates have been nominated to contested seats in the provincial legislatures (contested by party candidates and independents).
“The biggest ballot paper will contain 56 contestants. This is the ballot for the compensatory seats in the National Assembly. The biggest regional election ballot will be in the Gauteng region with 40 political parties and 2 independent candidates. Similarly, the biggest ballot in respect of provincial legislature elections will be in Gauteng with 42 political parties and 2 independent candidates,” she explained.
Seven independent candidates will contest the regional elections and six will contest the provincial legislature elections. The region with the most number of independent candidates is the Limpopo region with three (3) candidates.
Kate Bapela said any person may object to the nomination of a candidate. Such objections must be lodged with the Commission by 17h00 on 27 March 2024. An objection may be raised on the basis that an independent candidate or nominating party has failed to submit the signed prescribed acceptance of nomination or that there is no signed prescribed undertaking, that the candidate is bound by the electoral code of conduct.
