Johannesburg – The GOOD Party has filed an answering affidavit opposing the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Electoral Court application challenging the use of single-name proportional representation (PR) candidate lists ahead of the 4 November 2026 local government elections.
The DA is challenging GOOD, ActionSA, the EFF and the MK Party over their submission of single-name PR lists, arguing that the practice prevents voters from knowing who could ultimately represent them.
GOOD secretary-general Brett Herron said the party’s lists, which contain one candidate in each of the 25 municipalities it is contesting, were lawful and certified by the IEC.
“The Party’s Proportional Representation list, with one named candidate in each of the 25 municipalities it is contesting, complied with the law and was certified by the IEC,” Herron said.
He rejected the DA’s interpretation of the legislation, arguing that neither the Municipal Electoral Act nor the Municipal Structures Act sets a minimum number of names required on a party list.
“The ‘honest underestimation’ test on which the DA relies is gobbledygook that appears nowhere in the Act,” Herron said.
‘Temporary absence from Cape Town’
GOOD said it had also asked the IEC in writing before submitting its lists whether single-candidate lists were permissible.
Herron said the party believed supplementary candidates could allow parties to recognise ward candidates who performed strongly during campaigns and match candidates’ expertise with council responsibilities.
“GOOD will defend its lists in court; they comply with the law as parliament wrote it, not as the DA would prefer it to have been written,” he said.
The DA, however, has argued that the relevant provision allowing lists to be supplemented was intended for situations where a party unexpectedly wins more PR seats than the number of candidates initially submitted, rather than as a deliberate electoral strategy.
GOOD has also turned its attention to the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Helen Zille. Herron said the party had asked its legal team to advise whether Zille’s registration in Johannesburg complies with sections 7(3) and 8(3) of the Electoral Act.
GOOD is questioning whether Zille, who has long lived in Cape Town, meets the legal definition of being ordinarily resident in Johannesburg. The Citizen reported that Zille relocated to Johannesburg in September last year to pursue the mayoral candidacy.
“Zille’s presence in Johannesburg looks suspiciously like a temporary absence from Cape Town, where she ordinarily resides, not a change of hometown,” Herron said.
He added that if the party’s legal advice finds Zille’s candidacy unlawful, it will challenge it “in the appropriate legal forum”.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
