The African National Congress (ANC) has tightened its qualification requirements for candidates seeking to contest the 2026 local government elections, with aspirant councillors without matric now required to obtain a waiver or face being removed from the party’s candidate lists.
The issue is set to come under the spotlight as the ANC convenes a special extended National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Tuesday to consider and approve its candidate lists for the November 4 local government elections.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party’s rules distinguish between experienced ward-level candidates without matric and new entrants seeking to contest municipal seats.
Speaking on the sidelines of the NEC meeting, Mbalula said candidates without matric who already had experience and enjoyed the support of their communities could apply for a waiver.
“You will ask for a waiver. Should you become a candidate of the ANC and you don’t have matric, at a ward level, you will ask for a waiver,” Mbalula said.
He was responding to a letter from the ANC’s Electoral Committee, signed by its chairperson Kgalema Motlanthe, regarding requests for waivers for candidates without matric.
The letter, seen by Africa Daily, states that the Electoral Committee had received waiver requests from provincial structures on behalf of candidates who did not hold matric qualifications.
However, the committee said none of the candidates initially recommended by the provinces had met the requirements for a waiver.
“Upon assessment of your motivation and attached documents, the Electoral Committee regrets to inform you that none of the candidates qualify for a waiver as contemplated in the rules and guidelines approved by the NEC,” the letter states.
The committee said the provincial recommendations had failed to demonstrate why the candidates were exceptional, either individually or when compared with other candidates available in their wards and municipalities.
“Accordingly, the Electoral Committee has no option but to reject all your recommendations for waivers due to unsatisfactory reasons and motivations without merit,” Motlanthe wrote.
However, with the deadline for political parties to register candidates with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) looming on 28 August, the committee has provided a conditional route for some of the candidates to remain on the lists.
The committee said it could grant a grace period as a conditional waiver to candidates without matric, subject to them committing to further their education.
Under the conditions, candidates would have to commit to obtaining a matric qualification or an accredited qualification at NQF Level 4 or higher within 12 months of becoming an ANC councillor.
They would also have to submit a signed written pledge to the Electoral Committee through their provincial leadership structures.
The deadline for the pledges is 17:00 on Tuesday, August 25.
Candidates who fail to submit the required pledges by the deadline must be immediately removed and replaced on the ANC’s candidate lists, according to the letter.
Mbalula said the waiver process was not something that could simply be approved by the secretary-general.
“Our guidelines are very clear. That person with experience, you ask for a waiver to the electoral commission, not to the SG. And the electoral commission will process that,” he said.
However, the party will prioritise candidates with Grade 12 qualifications when dealing with new entrants.
“But if you are a new entrant, priority will be given to the one with Grade 12 to occupy that particular position,” Mbalula said.
The ANC secretary-general drew a distinction between ward councillor candidates and those seeking to become mayors, saying the party’s qualification requirements are considerably stricter for mayoral candidates.
“Where we don’t negotiate is the mayoral candidates,” Mbalula said.
“You cannot be a mayoral candidate of the ANC if you don’t have a university post-graduate [qualification] and you are not qualified.”
He said mayoral candidates would also need experience in running municipalities and dealing with sophisticated economies.
“You must have also a little bit of experience in running a municipality and sophisticated economies because we have seen where we just take [people] without putting emphasis on qualifications to run these municipalities, it has become a bigger challenge,” he said.
“So we are emphasising competence.”
The party’s latest position comes as political parties prepare to finalise their candidate lists ahead of the 2026 local government elections, with the ANC facing pressure to ensure that its representatives are capable of managing municipalities amid persistent challenges around service delivery, financial management and governance.
For ward-level candidates, however, the party’s approach appears to leave room for experienced community leaders without matric to contest elections, provided they meet the conditions set out by its Electoral Committee.
The immediate issue for the affected candidates is now whether they will submit the required pledges before Tuesday’s deadline or be replaced on the ANC’s lists.