Democratic Alliance challenges rivals' PR list strategy in court

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has approached the Electoral Court to challenge the proportional representation (PR) list strategies of several political rivals ahead of the 2026 local government elections. The DA, represented by Federal Council chairperson Ashor Sarupen, accuses ActionSA, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and GOOD of deliberately submitting single-name PR lists in many municipalities.

The DA argues this practice allows parties to select additional representatives only after election results are known, which they claim is a deliberate attempt to circumvent the electoral system and hide candidates from voters. The DA has requested that the court declare this practice unlawful and has proposed remedies ranging from excluding these parties from the PR ballot to barring them from adding candidates until after the first meeting of newly elected councils.

ActionSA has rejected these claims, with national chairperson Michael Beaumont accusing the DA of hypocrisy. Beaumont stated that the practice of supplementing PR lists is permitted by law and has been utilized by multiple political parties, including the DA, in previous elections. He maintained that ActionSA intends to supplement its lists based on the performance of its ward candidates as allowed by current regulations.