While many believe that ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa is playing the “long game” when it comes to politics, he may want to get in the race in the first place.
Ramaphosa's party are in danger of missing out on contesting many key wards after it failed to register hundreds of candidates for the election, meaning it cannot participate in elections in 94, or more than a third, of SA's 278 municipalities.
It would see the party lose power in councils it once ran.
The ANC said it would approached the electoral court after it and other political parties failed to register all their candidates due to the pressure placed on the candidate selection process by Covid-19 restrictions on meetings.
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe claimed the ANC's failure to register all their candidates was worsened by challenges experienced on the IEC's online candidate registration system.
The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that the local government elections must take place between October 27 and November 1, dismissing an application by the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to have the vote postponed.
The IEC must within three days of the ruling, decide whether it is “practically possible” to hold a voter registration weekend. They must tell co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma immediately of its decision.
It is unclear if the IEC will reopen the registration for candidates, however Mabe welcomed the ruling and said the party was particularly happy with the court ordering the IEC to reopen the voter registration process.
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