International Electoral Commission (IEC) Limpopo Electoral Officer, Nkaro Mateta, said the councillor candidate for ward 3 died a few days before voters could cast their votes and thus a by-election to elect a councillor must be held.
“There are five voting stations in ward 3 for the LIM345 by-election with a total voter registration of 4 781. We are also going to conduct a by-election in Polokwane for the ward 10 councillor as the councillor who was nominated, won the election for two wards and subsequently resigned from the position as ward 10 councillor. The ward has nine voting stations with a total voter registration of 7 883,” Mateta said. She added that in preparation for the by-elections, the IEC will conduct an address survey to update the addresses of voters whose information are incomplete or missing. The exercise will be done by IEC personnel who will conduct door-to-door visits in the affected wards between 14 and 16 September.
“There will be a registration weekend on 17 and 18 September where all the voting stations in the affected wards will be open for voters to register, and update their addresses and registration details.
“Stations will open from 08:00 to 17:00 on both days,” Mateta continued. The IEC results in August showed the ANC won the disputed LIM345 municipality that incorporates Vuwani and Malamulele in Limpopo with an overwhelming 84,65% of the vote during the Local Government Election on 9 August. Joyce Bila is the Mayor of LIM345. Although Vuwani residents boycotted the elections in protest at the areas pre-demarcation and held a community sports day instead, only 10 of the 56 voting stations in the area showed no votes made. Nine of the 56 voting stations was in the Makhado Local Municipality.
