In a move to mark the end of the ward delimitation
process, the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) has handed over 4 468 final ward
boundaries to the Electoral Commission (IEC) in preparation for the 2021 Local Government
Elections.
Wards are delimited every five years in metropolitan
and local municipalities for electoral
purposes necessitated by changes in the number of registered voters as a
result of migration as well as the enrolment of new voters on the voters’ roll.
The MDB commenced with the ward delimitation process
in 2019 with extensive, public education and awareness campaign, the process
that saw the MDB visiting local and metropolitan municipalities meeting members
of ward committees, community development workers and public representatives,
houses of traditional leaders, Provincial Executive Councils, local, provincial
and national inter-government relations forums, South African Local Government
Association (SALGA) forums etc.
The ward delimitation process commenced after the
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) published
the formula for the determination of number of councillors, and the
determination and publication of the number of councillors by MECs responsible
for local government in the nine provinces. This ward delimitation process
commenced in the second half of 2019.
After receiving the final determined number of
councillors, the MDB calculated the average number of registered voters allowed
in a ward (minimum and maximum) and number of wards for all municipalities in
the country. Thereafter, technical sessions were held with municipal officials
to prepare draft wards to be used during consultation with stakeholders. Draft
wards were circulated to all municipalities in the country and uploaded on the
MDB website in preparation for the public consultation process.
The MDB launched the public consultation process in
January 2020. The process commenced in February 2020 in Mpumalanga, the Eastern
Cape, the Western Cape, and Gauteng. Due
to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the declaration of a national
state of disaster, the public consultation process was cancelled. At that time
only 109 out of 213 municipalities had already been visited.
The MDB in consultation with the IEC then revised the
ward delimitation programme. The revised end of the ward delimitation process
was changed from August to November 2020. The MDB had to give more time for
members of the public that could not be consulted through physical contact
meetings to submit proposals on how their wards should be configured. The due
date for submission of written proposals for Batch 1 and Batch 2 were extended
from 31 April to 31 May 2020 and from 31 April to 31 July 2020 respectively.
The MDB received and considered a total of 1 206 submissions
from 213 municipalities. 70% of these were accepted and wards determined and
published in provincial gazettes inviting anyone aggrieved by the wards to
submit objections within 14 days.
At the end of the objection period, 1 465 objections were
received. The MDB considered all objections and the Board confirmed and varied
wards for all municipalities in the country. 90% of 4 468 wards were confirmed
as published and 10% of those were varied.
As one of the core mandates of the MDB, the ward
delimitation process is regarded as a crucial step towards deepening local
democracy and promoting spatial transformation within communities.
During the last Local Government
Elections (LGE) in 2016, there were 4 392 municipal wards in the country.
However, for 2021, there will be an additional 76 wards in the country, which
brings the total number of wards to 4 468.
MDB Chairperson
Mr Thabo Manyoni said: “The Board assures its stakeholders, and most
importantly the communities, of its unwavering commitment to engage with them
in order to enhance their understanding of demarcation processes. The Board is
intentional in its drive to deepen democracy through spatial transformation and
looks forward to improved relations and active public participation for its
processes going forward.”
IEC Chairperson
Mr Glen Mashinini expressed appreciation for the MDB meeting the revised
timetable.
“The
Electoral Commission is deeply grateful to you and the staff of the Municipal
Demarcation Board for finalising the ward delimitation process under the most
challenging of circumstances. Despite the obvious impediments and challenges,
you made a commitment to deliver the final ward boundaries in two tranches so
as to minimise the impact on our preparations for the 2021 elections,” he said.
Mr
Mashinini said the handover of ward boundaries allowed the IEC to begin its
final preparations for next year’s local government elections, including finalising
voting districts and voting station locations, and embarking on voter
registration initiatives.
This
includes alerting voters whose voting districts may have been split during the
ward delimitation process. In total 1 123 voting districts have been split.
The provincial breakdown of split voting districts is as follows:
Eastern
Cape: 63
Free
State: 87
Gauteng: 159
KwaZulu-Natal:
162
Mpumalanga:
247
Limpopo: 45
Northern
Cape: 72
North West:
117
Western
Cape: 171
All registered
voters are urged to check their voter registration details on the IEC website (www.electiions.org.za) or by
SMSing their ID number to 32810 (R1 per SMS).
ISSUED BY THE MUNICIPAL DEMARCATION BOARD & THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Municipal Demarcation Board:
For media queries: Please contact Barileng Dichabe on 071 354 2612
or email [email protected]
Electoral Commission:
For media queries: Please contact Kate Bapela on 082 600 6386
For media interviews: Please email requests to
[email protected]