The EFF was the first to release its lists of candidates on Wednesday, shortly after the Electoral Commissions of South Africa’s (IEC) due date for submissions.

On the same day, ANC secretary general Ace Magashule revealed the top 10 candidates on the governing party’s national list. On Friday morning, the ANC published its national list on social media.

The DA, however, is keeping mum. With only 53 days to go until the elections on May 8, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the party would release its list by Sunday.

Next week, the IEC is expected to publish a full list of candidates of all parties contesting the elections.

Speaking to journalists, Maimane said the party was withholding its lists because candidates needed to report their candidacy to their respective employers.

“In our list you can come from outside and be a member of the DA. Once we have finalised the lists we need people to inform their employers. You don’t want someone’s employer to hear about it on the media. Those lists will be released, you have my undertaking.”

‘No such thing as a new dawn’

Maimane was also vocal about the ANC’s list of candidates, saying that it was a list of “syndicates”.

“No one in the list is going to be held accountable, these people are all cunning. From people accused of corruption, to people accused of rape, to people who have looted in government; it’s all the same so there is no such thing as a new dawn. When you put people on a list, they’d better be people who are willing to serve South Africans, who put the interest of people first. When I look at our lists, I can see they are the most diverse in the country. We have selected people whose sole job is to focus on the people of South Africa.”

The ANC list has received sharp criticism for featuring those implicated in state capture or other cases of wrongdoing, including ANC leaders Bathabile Dlamini, Nomvula Mokonyane, Mosebenzi Zwane and Malusi Gigaba.

Explaining this to News24 on Thursday, ANC deputy president David Mabuza said the party could not punish them because of public perception.

“Let’s allow the process (commission of inquiry into state capture) to happen, otherwise we are running the risk of using the public to judge people. This is a judicial process, if an opinion is made there, we know this opinion is authentic, it has been processed. We will not make any allegations about on an individual. We should avoid a situation where we judge individuals,” Mabuza said. DM