Local election registration postponed
Several unforeseen hick-ups have forced the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to move the first weekend of voter registration for the 2016 municipal elections to a later date.
The first registration weekend for this year’s municipal elections had to be postponed. The 2016 election promises to be one of the most hotly contested elections ever in the Tshwane metro.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) it had decided to move the first registration weekend to 5 to 6 March 2016.
“At its recent meeting the commission had occasion to evaluate the progress with regard to projects and processes leading up to the 2016 municipal elections.
“The commission took note that the legislative amendments have not been brought to finality in parliament, the municipal demarcation board has just only recently completed the handover of final wards to the electoral commission and the Tlokwe judgement had a profound impact on the electoral operations,” the office of the chief electoral officer said in a statement.
According to the IEC’s Akani Mushwane the commission had taken the view that the cumulative effect of all the factors had been to slow down preparation for the various electoral events leading up to the election this year, which must be held between 18 May and 16 August.
“On this basis the commission has now decided to move out the first registration weekend to 5 to 6 March,” Mushwane said.
It was however stressed that the launch of the elections would not be affected by this decision and as such remained 14 January 2016.
Mushwane said full discussion on the revised timelines regarding registration for the election would be held this month.
Meanwhile, political analysts and observers predicted that the 2016 municipal elections could be close calls in especially the “big five” metros in the country, including Tshwane.
Based on the 2014 provincial elections and the inroads made by the Democratic Alliance (DA) during the previous municipal elections held in 2011, BusinessTech warned that the ANC could be facing a few surprises later this year.
The ANC won Tshwane in the 2014 provincial elections with 49,31% of the total vote – down from 59,95 in 2009 and 55,32 in the 2011 local government elections.
The DA got 38,7% in the municipal elections in 2011 and in the 2014 provincial elections 33,8% while the new kid on the block, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) attained 11,2%.
Municipal elections are held every five years on a date to be determined by the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs. The current five-year term of municipal councils run out on 17 May 2016.
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