Almost 365 000 iLembe residents have registered to make their mark in the upcoming national and provincial elections.

The two elections will be held concurrently on Wednesday, May 29, which has also been confirmed as a public holiday to ensure the best possible voter turnout.

Voter registration ended with the official proclamation at midnight on Friday last week, so people will no longer be able to register.

Of the 364 591 registered voters in the iLembe District Municipality (correct as of Friday morning), KwaDukuza’s 151 960 represented the most in a single constituent local municipality.

Mandeni and Ndwedwe both had around 80 000 registered and Maphumulo just over 52 000.

Female voters registered at a higher rate in iLembe, making up around 204 000 (56%) of the group, despite being 52.6% of the population (as per the 2022 census).

The 30-39 age bracket represents the largest individual voting bloc (broken into 10-year age increments), with 96 384 registered voters or 26.4% of the total number.

Voters will cast ballots at 374 voting districts across iLembe’s 79 total wards, all of which will be administered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

To find out which one will be expecting your vote, visit elections.org.za/pw/Voter/Voter-Information or SMS your ID number to 32810 at a cost of R1.

How has KwaDukuza voted in previous elections?

KwaDukuza is the seat of power for iLembe and also has the largest population, therefore making it the most important in voting terms.

Let us take a look back at the voting patterns of residents over the previous four election cycles.

In 2019, just under 97 000 people cast legal votes for 29 parties.

The African National Congress (ANC) received the lion’s share at 60.59%, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) at 22.21% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at 8.01%.

The ANC’s support was even stronger in 2014, where it claimed 68.92% of the 91 347 legal votes, followed by the DA at 20.52% and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) at 3.81%.

In 2009, the ANC claimed a mammoth 71.19% of 73 219 votes, with the DA taking 15.8% and the IFP 7.74%.
KwaDukuza had its first election as a municipality in 2004 after taking over from the previous Dolphin Coast Municipality.
The ANC claimed 61.53% of the 53 296 votes, followed by the IFP at 18.1% and DA at 14.43%.

What are the voting trends?

The four big national parties in KwaDukuza have all seen reasonably consistent trends over the past four elections.

Most notable is the fact that the ANC has trended downwards since its peak in 2009, losing ground at every election since, while still maintaining control at national, provincial and municipal level.

The party was unable to win a clear majority in the 2021 municipal elections, claiming just 49.57% – the lowest mark in any elections held since 1994.

On the other hand, the DA has grown consistently in KwaDukuza, registering improved marks in every national election since 2004.

This is largely backed by the DA strongholds of Wards 6, 22 and 30 in Ballito, Salt Rock and Sheffield.

ActionSA did siphon votes away from the DA in the most recent municipal elections, and this year will be their first time on the national ballot.

The IFP, once a strong force at almost 20% of the vote, has slowly lost a foothold locally, while the EFF is now firmly fighting for the position of second most popular party.

The worst performing parties in KwaDukuza history, of parties that received any votes, are the National People’s Front and the South African Maintenance and Estate Beneficiaries Association, which received just two votes each in 2019.

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