#IMadeMyMark: what are the municipal elections?

As announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the local government elections will be held on October 27.

Municipal elections are held every five years and this year’s elections will be the sixth municipal elections held in the country since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Eligible voters will elect leadership and public representatives at metropolitan, district and local level.

Each voter will receive a ballot for their ward with the names of ward candidates in a metropolitan municipality election. The candidate who receives the most votes in a ward will be elected to that seat. Ward candidates can run as party representatives or as independents.

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In addition, each voter will be given a ballot on which they can vote for a political party. This is the proportional representation (PR) ballot.

The parties will subsequently be assigned seats based on the percentage of votes they obtained within the metropolitan area as a whole. Each political party has a list of candidates and the councillors are drawn from that list.

Who can vote?

All South African citizens aged 18 years and older are eligible to vote. All persons old enough to vote need to be registered voters, if not registered, then they need to register to vote because only registered voters may vote.
One may only vote at the voting station in the voting district (VD) where you registered on the voters roll and you must have your South African green, bar-coded ID book or smartcard ID. If you lose your ID, you can get a temporary replacement ID called ‘Temporary Identity Certificate’ (TIC) that, if it hasn’t expired, can be used to vote.
Rights of voters
• All voters have the right to participate in free and fair elections.
• Voters have a right to choose which party or candidate to vote for in a safe environment.
• No one has the authority to force or reward a voter to vote a certain way or to prevent them from voting.
• Voters have the right to secrecy, and no one will know how you voted unless you tell them yourself.
• There are no names or ID numbers on ballot papers, thus they can’t be traced to a specific voter.
• Voters who can’t see clearly can bring someone they trust to vote for them. Illiterate voters have the right to get assistance from the presiding officer, watched by two-party agents.

The Electoral Code of Conduct, contained in the Electoral Act, also details a list of prohibited conduct including:
• Using language which provokes violence.
• Intimidation of candidates or voters.
• Publishing false information about other candidates or parties.
• Plagiarising any other party’s symbols, name or acronyms.
• Offering any inducement or reward to a person to vote for a party.
• Destroying, removing or defacing posters of other parties.
• Carrying arms or weapons at political meetings, marches or rallies.
• Bribing voters to vote or not vote.
• Generally abusing a position of power, privilege or influence to influence the outcome of an election.

What happens when you breach the Code of Conduct?
Any person who breaches the Code is guilty of a criminal offence and can be fined or sent to prison for up to 10 years.
Political parties that breach the code can:
• Be fined up to R200 000.
• Have to give up the party’s election deposit.
• Be stopped from working in an area.
• Have their votes in an area cancelled.
• Can have their party registration cancelled.

What should you do if you suspect a party or a candidate has breached the Electoral Code of Conduct?

In terms of section 78 of the Municipal Electoral Act the Electoral Court has jurisdiction in respect of all electoral disputes and complaints about infringements of the Code, subject to section 20(4) of the Electoral Commission Act.

If you suspect that a party or a candidate has breached the Electoral Code of Conduct, you need to report the incident to Electoral Court. The Secretary of the Court may be contacted on 051 412 7400.

The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is an independent constitutional body that manages free and fair elections of legislative bodies and institutions through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society in deepening electoral democracy.

People can visit IEC’s website to register to vote, update address, find voting stations and check their registration status.

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