Party’s ward candidates assessed

MORE than 1 900 potential ANC councillor candidates for municipalities in the Eastern Cape yesterday went through the party’s vetting process ahead of the local government elections in August.

The party hopefuls gathered at the Orient Theatre in East London to be vetted by national officials so they can comply with ANC standards for candidates to hold public office.

When a team of reporters arrived outside the venue, candidates from different regions were queuing while waiting for their turn to be vetted and uploaded onto the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) system.

ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said the vetting process would be done to the top two candidates from each ward and also with proportional representative (PR) candidates.

“We have taken a decision that let’s also vet number two so that whoever is the reserve would have been vetted as well.

“So, both people that emerged in wards will be vetted, and all those in PR lists will be vetted,” Mabuyane said.

He said that vetting was formalised to make sure candidates who would represent the party met “all standards” and did not have criminal records.

“We will assess the numbers that would have been vetted by the end of the business day [yesterday]. On the other side, the process has started of loading all these names into the IEC as part of the registration process which we must have ready by June 2,” said Mabuyane.

The IEC process of uploading candidates can be done electronically and parties are able to upload lists themselves to fast-track the process.

“The importance of this new arrangement by the IEC gives us an opportunity to detect any potential problems on time because this system is linked at home affairs. You only punch the ID number and the system brings the person’s details,” Mabuyane said.

He said the system also assisted the ANC with verifying whether candidates contesting wards actually lived in those specific areas.