The Democratic Alliance has filed papers before the Electoral Court for leave to intervene in the ANC's attempt to field candidates in six municipalities after failing to submit its candidate lists by the deadline.

The principle is simple: deadlines are deadlines.

The DA's intervention seeks to uphold the law, and the IEC's deadlines which applied to all parties fairly and equally.

All parties were required to submit candidate lists by 17:00 on 28 August. The DA submitted candidates in all 257 municipalities, on time.

Capturing candidates on the IEC system is not the same as submitting them. The system expressly requires parties to "submit as final": a process all parties clearly understood and successfully followed.

Our courts have repeatedly required "rigid adherence" to election deadlines because equal rules are essential to free and fair elections.

The ANC, or any other party, cannot receive special treatment simply because it failed to meet a deadline that applied equally to everyone.

The rules are the rules and deadlines are deadlines. Rules and deadlines must apply equally to every political party wishing to contest an election.