Key Takeaways
- The ANC missed the Electoral Commission’s 5 p.m. deadline on 28 August to lodge candidate lists for six municipalities, four in the Eastern Cape, leading to a court case that was dismissed because the party never pressed the “submit as final” button.
- Eastern Cape ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi accuses ANC secretary‑general Fikile Mbalula of making defamatory statements that blame him for the list‑submission failure.
- Mbalula’s report, highlighted in the Sunday Times, claims Ngcukayitobi submitted the list only 29 minutes before the deadline and allegedly tampered with it without authority, including removing names not approved by the national executive committee.
- Ngcukayitobi’s lawyers demand a retraction by noon on Tuesday, warning that failure to comply will trigger defamation proceedings in the High Court and cautioning Mbalula against public comments that could aggravate the case.
- The lawyers counter‑allege that Mbalula, not Ngcukayitobi, instructed the removal of former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa’s name and that Mbalula’s actions—such as convening an illegal provincial conference and installing an unauthorized task team—caused the submission failure.
- The dispute reflects an ongoing feud between the two officials, predates the court ruling, and occurs as the ANC prepares to appeal the Electoral Court’s decision amid growing internal tensions.
Background to the Election‑List Crisis
The African National Congress (ANC) missed the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s 5 p.m. deadline on 28 August to lodge candidate lists for six municipalities, four of which lie in the Eastern Cape. After the failure the party approached the Electoral Court, arguing that a technical glitch on the commission’s online submission system had prevented the lists from being transmitted. The commission rejected this explanation, stating that the ANC had simply not completed the final “submit as final” step. The court dismissed the ANC’s case on Wednesday, noting that the party never pressed the required button and that the audit trail showed no system fault. The matter involved 181 ANC candidates, and the party’s spokesperson, Mahlengi Bhengu, announced an intention to appeal the ruling. This procedural setback has ignited a public feud between two senior ANC officials.
Ngcukayitobi’s Defamation Allegation Against Mbalula
Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi has accused ANC secretary‑general Fikile Mbalula of making defamatory statements that blame him for the election‑list debacle. Through his legal representatives at Mabuza Attorneys, Ngcukayitobi said that Mbalula’s claims were false and damaging to his integrity, standing and reputation within the party and the broader public. The lawyers demanded that Mbalula withdraw the allegations by noon on Tuesday, warning that failure to do so would result in defamation proceedings being instituted in the appropriate High Court division without further notice. The letter, dated Thursday, was sent to Mbalula at Luthuli House and referenced a report Mbalula had compiled on the ANC’s candidate‑list failures, which had been featured on the front page of the Sunday Times over the weekend.
Contents of Mbalula’s Report and the Accusations Levelled
Mbalula’s report, as reported by the Sunday Times, asserted that Ngcukayitobi had submitted the Eastern Cape’s final candidate list to the party’s operations centre only 29 minutes before the deadline, a timing that the report identified as the primary cause of the missed submissions in four key municipalities. The report further alleged that Ngcukayitobi had acted without authority, allegedly removing some names from the list and inserting others that had not been approved by the national executive committee. In particular, Mbalula suggested that Ngcukayitobi’s late submission and alleged tampering were responsible for the ANC’s inability to meet the Electoral Commission’s cutoff, thereby exposing the party to legal and electoral risk.
Lawyers’ Letter: Demands for Retraction and Specific Counter‑Accusations
In their letter, Ngcukayitobi’s lawyers not only demanded a retraction but also turned the accusation of list tampering back onto Mbalula. They stated that Ngcukayitobi was only aware of an instance where Mbalula, in his presence, personally instructed the alteration of the proportional representation list for Nelson Mandela Bay, including the removal of former councillor Andile Lungisa’s name. The lawyers asserted that, to their client’s knowledge, Ngcukayitobi bore no responsibility for any unauthorised changes to the candidate lists. They argued that Mbalula’s statements implied that Ngcukayitobi had breached ANC policy, which is defamatory because such conduct would be prejudicial to countless people and communities.
Allegations of Malice, Blame‑Shifting and Wider Organizational Misconduct
The legal correspondence went further, claiming that Mbalula’s impugned statements were motivated by malice and a desire to shift blame away from himself, whom the lawyers described as the administrative head of the ANC. They alleged that Mbalula had engaged in a series of conduct over a protracted period that culminated in the submission failure, including convening an illegal provincial conference in March 2026, installing an unauthorized Provincial Task Team, and sidelining the duly elected Provincial Executive Committee and the Provincial Secretary until a belated reinstatement only weeks before the IEC deadlines. According to the lawyers, this conduct was calculated and directly resulted in the failure to submit the lists on time or at all, thereby justifying the defamation claim.
Legal Ultimatum, Ongoing Feud and Prospects of Appeal
Ngcukayitobi’s lawyers gave Mbalula until 12 p.m. on Tuesday to withdraw the false statements, warning that non‑compliance would trigger immediate court proceedings. They also cautioned Mbalula against making any public pronouncements on the matter, asserting that such remarks would be regarded as aggravation of the defamation and could be used against him in court. The feud between the two officials predates the court ruling; Ngcukayitobi had written to Mbalula on 31 August demanding a detailed account of the candidates submitted to the Electoral Commission, giving his office until 1 p.m. on 1 September to respond. ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu confirmed on Wednesday that the party would appeal the Electoral Court’s dismissal of its case. The dispute, reported by IOL, underscores the growing internal tensions within the ANC as it prepares for upcoming elections.