The governing party submitted its lists of councillor candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) before 5pm on Tuesday.

The ruling party had initially missed the commission’s deadline on 23 August.

The party’s deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told the media on Wednesday that the list doesn’t include anyone facing serious criminal charges.

“We have removed a number of people from the list. We removed a woman from the Western Cape who was extremely unpleasant to a group of people she addressed who were HIV positive people and they charged her with criminal injuria we removed her off the list.

“A number of other people who have appeared in various courts on serious criminal offences have been removed. What we regard as a serious offence is housebreaking, murder, rape, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, corruption, fraud the list is endless, but it doesn’t include a traffic fine.

“We start receiving exception reports from the IEC and if the exception is a serious matter we talk to the provincial committee and the elections committee and if that person has to be removed we need to get an alternative.”

Duarte said the party will continue to deal with unresolved disputes after the elections.

“There are many lessons that we have drawn from this process. We remain painfully aware that, within our own ranks, there were few people who were determined to subvert and undermine ANC rules and guidelines. The national executive committee and the electoral committee take a dim view of alleged attempts by some within our ranks to manipulate the process.

“In this regard, the ANC will implement the recommendations of the electoral committee to ensure that that these un-ANC tendencies do not recur.”

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