KwaDukuza’s voter turnout was better than the provincial and national figures, but numbers were still down across the board.

More than 101 000 KwaDukuza residents cast votes at 88 stations across the municipality’s 30 wards last Wednesday.

That was good for a voter turnout of 66.58%, significantly higher than the 62.30% across KwaZulu-Natal and 58.64% nationally.

Elsewhere in iLembe, 63.10% of registered Ndwedwe voters made their mark, followed by 61.34% in Mandeni and a district-low of 59.87% in Maphumulo.

All four municipalities saw their lowest voter turnout since detailed statistics first became available in the 2004 elections.

It signifies a worrying trend of voter apathy across iLembe and throughout the country, where the national mark of 58.64% is by some distance the lowest of any free elections in South African history.

KwaDukuza in depth

The voting population in KwaDukuza was split reasonably consistently across its 30 wards.

Twenty-eight of the wards saw between 2 481 (Ward 27) and 3 939 (Ward 16) voters, while Ward 11 counted 4 530 voters among its ranks.

Ward 27, which encompasses the Madundube area inland of KwaDukuza town, had a disappointing day at the polls.

It was not only the lowest turnout by gross number of voters, but also the lowest by percentage at 55.72%.

The lowest turnout at an individual station was in Ward 27 too, where just 33.67% of the 1 369 voters registered at Ensikeni Primary School arrived on the day.

At the other end of the spectrum, the clear anomaly in terms of voting population was Ward 22, which includes Salt Rock, Sheffield and Umhlali.

The ward’s two voting stations at the Salt Rock Library and Sizani Combined School processed 6 131 voters, comfortably the most in KwaDukuza.

Sizani’s 3 919 voters alone were more than the sum of the voters who arrived to vote in 27 wards.

It is perhaps unsurprising then that it was one of two voting stations where residents complained of long lines throughout the day, the other being the Scout’s Hall at Townsend Park in Ward 30.

And while voter turnout was lower by percentage at Sizani than 2019, there were still 1 168 more people which contributed to clogged parking and long lines when combined with polling station issues.

As the ward continues to grow in size with people moving into estates such as Seaton, Springvale and Sheffield Hills, it is clear another voting station is needed.

Though the percentage was lower than 2019, Ward 22 did still produce the highest turnout this year at 77.02%.

It was one of nine wards which registered a mark of above 70%, the others being Wards 6 (Ballito), 8 (Nkobongo), 10 (Groutville), 11 (Blythedale), 12 (Tinley Manor), 26 (Ntshawini), 29 (Groutville) and Ward 30 (Ballito South).

None of those wards produced the best performing voting district however, which was instead found in Ward 3.

More than 85% of the 152 people registered at the Macedonia Baptist Church Hall in New Guelderland near Darnall made it to the polls.

That station also happened to be the smallest by number of voters.

* Note, all figures quoted above use the national ballot for consistency.

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