The uMkhonto weSizwe Party is challenging the Electoral Commission of South Africa after its request to amend candidate lists was rejected. The party wanted to make changes to ward candidate placements, add candidates it says were omitted, and remove candidates who have since died.

The dispute follows a Constitutional Court ruling in favour of the ANC, which allowed 181 candidates whose details had been captured on the IEC’s online system before the deadline, but not formally submitted, to be reinstated. The IEC subsequently extended similar relief to 32 other parties.

Now, the MK Party wants to know why its requests were treated differently, raising questions about fairness, consistency and transparency in the administration of our elections.

But there is an important distinction here: was the IEC correcting an administrative failure in the ANC’s case, or should other parties also be allowed to make changes to their candidate lists?

With the local government elections scheduled for 4 November, the question is whether this dispute is about equal treatment under the law, or whether political parties are trying to change the rules when the electoral clock is already ticking.

Let’s unpack what this means for the IEC, political parties and, most importantly, voters with Political Analyst and Author of Blame me on Apartheid, Thamsanqa Malinga.