Going into the upcoming municipal elections on Monday, November 1, many first-time voters may not know what to expect.
Some longtime voters may also not understand exactly what they’re voting for, especially when it comes down to the differences between a ward and a Proportional Representation (PR) councillor, or the difference between the number of wards and the number of municipal council seats.
Jacqueline Lynette Pannall, DA PR councillor, Caucus Chairperson and candidate for Ward 37 explained that there are currently 39 wards in the Mogale City area but that there are a total of 77 council seats. The 39 ward councillors take up 39 seats, and the remaining 38 seats are occupied by PR councillors.
On the day of the elections, voters will receive three ballot papers. The first will be to vote for the councillor in their specific ward. The second will be for the political party of their choice, and these votes will be tallied for the entire Mogale City and then split proportionally among the parties contesting the elections to determine the 38 PR councillor positions. The purpose of the third ballot paper is to decide representation for the West Rand District Municipality.
“The ward councillors do the ward work that the people have mandated them to do. That person is elected into office directly. That person can only be kicked out after losing a by-election (which can be triggered by termination, resignation or death); the voters must decide, not the various political parties. Your PR councillor depends on the rankings. For instance, the DA won 11 wards in 2016, but we have 27 councillors. The more proportional votes you get in your ward, the more representation the party has in council. It could happen that the community likes a DA member and wants him/ her as ward councillor, but they also like an ANC member and vote for him /her to be the PR, or the other way around,” Jacqueline said.
“Ward councillors, for example, do proof of residence, rezoning, building applications and all of those things,” added DA Mayoral candidate Tyrone Gray.
