ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Your Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa
- First Lady Dr Tshepo Ramaphosa
- Deputy President David Mabuza
- The Speaker of Parliament
- The Deputy Speaker of Parliament
- Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the Minister of Home
Affairs
- Members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee
- DEPUTY MINISTERS PRESENT
- DIRECTORS-GENERAL PRESENT
- Heads of State Institutions and Security
Cluster
- LEADERS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL POLITICAL
PARTIES
- Dr Ayo Odusola of the UNDP
- Mr Daniel Changaru – Elections Forum of
Zimbabwe
- Ms Pontso Matele – Elections Forum of Lesotho
- CHAPTER 9 AND 10 INSTITUTIONS
- MEMBERS OF THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS
- DOMESTIC AND CONTINENTAL OBSERVERS
- The leadership of the National House of
Traditional Leaders
- All NGOs and faith-based missions present
- FELLOW COMMISSIONERS
- Vice Chair of the Electoral Commission Janet
Love
- Commissioners Mosotho Moepya, Dr Nomsa Masuku
and Judge Daya Pillay
- Mr Sy Mamabolo, CEO, his EXCO and staff of the
Electoral Commission
- Members of the media
INTRODUCTION
His
Excellency, President of the Republic of South Africa, Fellow Compatriots
The 2021 Municipal Elections have tested us, as a nation,
in many ways.
The Electoral Commission, political parties, independent
candidates and voters were all faced with a number of challenges. To name but a
few:
- The Covid-19 pandemic
- Truncated time frame
- Bad weather
- Power interruptions
- Logistical glitches
Despite these challenges, we achieved our innovative
objectives of taking our electoral system to the next level of automation through
the introduction of the voter management device, which has put paid to the
possibility that there could ever be allegations double voting.
The fact that we are here today, having delivered these
elections is an achievement we should all be proud of as a nation. Our
thriving, vibrant and maturing democracy has indeed withstood the test thrown
at it.
The Commission – this pre-eminent independent electoral
institution – is proud that it is still flying high the banner of electoral
integrity, excellence as well as free and fair elections.
And for that we are indebted and grateful to all our
employees, the Inter-Ministerial Committee, state institutions, agencies,
including the security cluster, political contestants and all our social
partners.
FREE AND FAIR
Distinguished guests,
In terms of Section 190 of the Constitution of the Republic
of South Africa, the mandate of the Electoral Commission is to:
- compile and maintain a voters' roll.
- manage elections of national, provincial and
municipal legislative bodies;
- ensure that those elections are free and fair;
- declare the results of those elections; and
It is my singular honour to stand before you and announce
results of these elections which are determined in terms of Section 64 (1) (b)
of the Municipal Electoral Act.
The role of the Commission is to satisfy itself that the
conditions for free and fair elections were met in all these elections.
Among the factors which the Commission must consider in
declaring an election free and fair is firstly whether the electoral
regulations, laws and agreed processes were followed.
Secondly, where irregularities and breaches did occur, what
impact this had on the outcome of the election.
We are satisfied that, bar a few incidents, for which we
apologise, that we have delivered quality elections. The Commission is happy to
report that our unique political party liaison committee system is working.
It is through this system that we caught an electoral
officer who had transgressed our electoral laws by stuffing ballots into a box.
It is because of the vigilance of party agents and members
of the PLC that the stuffed ballot box as well as the mishandling of used
ballots were exposed.
We also wish to report that the Commission received and
cleared 290 objections, after investigations and deliberations.
The Electoral Commission is pleased to announce that it has
satisfied itself that the conditions for free and fair elections were met and
that the results for 213 councils are declared as final results.
Distinguished guests
There were 26.1-million voters registered for these
elections. Approximately of 370 000 were registered in the pre-approved MEC 7
list. A total of 12.3 million South Africans voted in these elections.
It is my honour to provide the country with a national
overview of the outcome of these elections.
In terms of the 213 municipalities contested:
- The
African National Congress achieved a majority in 161 Municipalities
- The
Democratic Alliance achieved a majority in 13 Municipalities
- And
the Inkatha Freedom Party achieved a majority in 10 municipalities.
In 66 municipalities no party achieved a majority – which
are known as hung councils.
• In the eight contested metropolitan councils, the top
three parties are:
Buffalo
City
ANC 59.30%
DA 19.52%
EFF 12.06%
City
of Cape Town
ANC 58.22%
DA 18.63%
EFF 04.13%
Ekurhuleni
ANC 38.19%
DA 28.72%
EFF 13.57%
Ethekwini
ANC 42.02%
DA 26.62%
EFF 10.48%
City
of Johannesburg
ANC 33.60%
DA 26.47%
EFF 16.05%
Mangaung
ANC 50.63%
DA 25.73%
EFF 11.31%
Nelson
Mandela Bay
ANC 39.92%
DA 39.43%
EFF 6.40%
City
of Tshwane
ANC 34.31%
DA 32.34%
EFF 10.62%
CONCLUSION
We congratulate the 10 461 councillors who have won the
right to serve our people. To them we remind them of the words of wisdom from
the great Pan-Africanist revolutionary and thinker Amilcar Cabral, who said:
“Always bear in mind that the
people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are
fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their
lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.”
We urge them to go out and make the lives of our people
better. Go out and ensure that our communities develop and live in peace. Go
out and, through your honest and ethical work, guarantee the future of our
children.
We are proud to proclaim to the world that we are still
flying high the banner of electoral integrity, excellence, and free and fair
elections.
Through these elections, we have sent a resounding message
to the world at large that we South Africans remain a beacon of pre-eminence in
the conduct of electoral democracy.
It is then my singular honour to hereby declare the 2021
Municipal Elections concluded as free and fair.
I thank you!