ACT wants ConCourt to force IEC to reopen portal for it to submit outstanding documents

JOHANNESBURG - Ace Magashule’s African Congress for Transformation (ACT) wants the courts to grant it a grace period to submit outstanding documents to contest the upcoming general elections.

The cut-off date to submit candidate lists lapsed in March.

But the ACT claims it was unable to meet the deadline as a result of glitches with the Electoral Commission (IEC)'s registration portal.

With exactly three weeks to go to elections, the ACT said it wanted the IEC to get its act together.

Three political parties are at the Constitutional Court, fighting their exclusion from the 29 May polls.

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While the ACT was unable to upload the full list of its parliamentary candidates, it met the requirements in some regions and nationally.

This means it will still appear on the ballot.

But the party now wants the Constitutional Court to compel the IEC to reopen its portal for it to add the remaining candidates on its list.

Unlike the Labour Party of South Africa, ACT’s lawyer, Advocate Gregory Amm, said the party did not want a complete review of the electoral timetable.

He says the party only needs two hours to complete the process to register for elections.

"We’ve come here to this court and we are asking for relief to allow their voices to be heard and for them to be on the ballot list."

Some of the Constitutional Court judges presiding over the matter have warned that this could open the floodgates for other parties to bring similar applications to the courts as elections draw closer.