Ward border realigning process concludes ahead of elections
Ward 97 gained a new voting district from Lovu township, and Lower Illovo's Illovo Primary School voting district was moved from Ward 109 to Ward 98.
THE ward delimitation process that has affected some wards on the South Coast ahead of this year’s Local Government Elections has concluded.
Also read: Amanzimtoti ward boundary reconfiguration finalised
The southern wards affected by the border realignment were 96, 97, 98, and 109. Ward 97 gained a new voting district from Lovu township, and Lower Illovo’s Illovo Primary School voting district was moved from Ward 109 to Ward 98.
In February, the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), and eThekwini held a community consultative meeting in Amanzimtoti regarding the border realignments.
The meeting to give a final update was held in Durban on May 15. The executive director in the office of the city manager, Sipho Cele, expressed appreciation that the process has been finalised.
“We are expecting one additional ward, which will bring the total number of wards to 112 in eThekwini Municipality. Residents were allowed to express their views on the segmentation of wards in a manner that benefits all citizens,” said Cele.
He added that the Municipality consulted various stakeholders to ensure fair and democratic participation.
Also read: New Ward boundaries could affect political landscape
MDB KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial co-ordinator, Mthobisi Manzini, said there were written objections from wards, and these were considered during the delimitation process.
“We have followed all ward delimitation criteria by using voting districts as building blocks for the creation of wards,” said Manzini.
Manzini added that the process is now in the hands of the IEC, which will educate residents from affected wards and begin preparations for the elections.
“We want to create clearly identifiable ward boundaries using geographical features such as roads, rivers, mountains, and valleys, while avoiding the splitting of voting districts and maintaining existing ward numbers,” said Manzini.
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Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
