ANC Candidate Vetting Raises Compliance Concerns for Local Elections

The ANC's last-minute decision to remove more than 350 candidate councillors before the 4 November local government elections exposes organisational weakness and risks creating covert internal resistance and voter apathy. With just weeks to South Africa's 4 November local government elections, the African National Congress (ANC) has made one of the most consequential interventions of its campaign: removing more than 350 councillor candidates from its lists following vetting concerns including criminal records and qualification requirements. The principle of vetting candidates is difficult to fault. Political parties should demand integrity, competence and credibility from those they put before voters. But campaigns are not judged only by whether a decision is right. They are judged by whether it is made at the right time, executed in the right way and accompanied by a strategy for managing its political consequences. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn On that test, the ANC has a problem. This was not simply a candidate clean-up exercise. It was an intervention into hundreds of local political ecosystems immediately before an election. Every candidate removed from a list represents more than a name. Behind that candidate may sit a branch structure, activists, volunteers, community relationships, local funders, family networks and voters who have spent months believing that this individual would represent them. Removing the candidate does not remove that political infrastructure. The critical campaign question therefore becomes: Where does that support now go? That is... Read the full story on Daily Maverick . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.