Residents angered at ward committee elections

WHILE some wards in Durban metro reported smooth voting at ward committee elections on Sunday, the same cannot be said for all three Berea wards.

In Ward 33, a petition has been drawn up to have the committee elected on Sunday dissolved and calls for a re-vote this weekend. Ward 27 has also called for the voting process to be redone this weekend after reports that some individuals deliberately disrupted proceedings at the voting stations..

According to Tozi Mthethwa from eThekwini Municipality, voting took place in 110 eThekwini wards, where voting was deemed successful in 70 wards, while 40 wards have called for posponments of the elections till Sunday, 27 November after it was reported that disruptions had occurred due to logistical challenges and interference from individuals who were not happy with the voting process. “Security will be beefed up with an increased deployment of law enforcement agencies at the remaining 40 voting sites to ensure that the election process is completed with no hurdles,” she said.

Mthethwa confirmed that while elections had been scheduled to start at 8am with registration and verification, some voting stations experienced delays due to the late delivery of infrastructure and voting papers. Mthethwa said the formation of ward committees aimed to strengthen community participation and directly give residents a platform to raise their concerns and express their views on developmental issues in their ward.

Ward 31:

FOR Councillor Chris Pappas of Ward 31, the final result of the ward committee elections was disappointing.

“All the procedures were followed correctly but a group of individuals caused enough chaos for us to have to call off the election for safety reasons. In previous years the Community Participation Department has run the elections and although not perfect, were better than those selected to run the election this year,” he said.

What was disturbing, said Pappas, was that councillors had been told buses would not be provided to assist with transporting voters, yet two Durban Transport buses ferried voters from the informal settlement to the venue.

“When questioned, the people on the bus said transport had been provided by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. If this is true, it is a clear indication that the process is neither free nor fair as municipal resources are only offered to certain groups of people and not others. The time and day of the week are also questionable. It does not make sense to have a meeting of such nature on a Sunday morning when the majority of people in ward 31 are at church, just as we would not expect it to happen on any other significant time for any religion or culture,” he said.

According to Pappas, lists of nominees for election to the committee had been circulated and a good result would have been a ward committee comprising of people from all these lists. However, he said one list had allegedly been put together by individuals aligned to the Mayor, who had proceeded to disrupt the meeting because some of their nominees arrived after the cut off time for registration.

“It is very important that all registered voters come out and participate in these elections. If they do not participate the ward councillor will end up with a ward committee that is not represntative or becomes defunct because it is utilised for political purposes and not to improve service delivery and community development. I urge all registered voters of ward 31 to come out on Sunday 27 November,” he said.

He said the venue had not been confirmed but residents could contact him on 081 017 6622.

Ward 33:

IN Ward 33, Councillor Mmabatho Tembe expressed her dismay after the venue for the ward committee election was incorrectly advertised. The Municipality had advertised the venue as Penzance Primary School, when in fact it was at the Stella Football Club. .

“The morning started late because the tent did not arrive on time. There was an unnecessary debate on the chosen method of voting, which was secret ballot but somehow people turned it into a political debate meaning more time got wasted on nonsense. This made a lot of people leave after a quorum had been reached. This affected who ended up voting and who ended up getting seats in the ward committee,” she said.

Tembe said some people who were nominated didn’t get a chance to be voted for because the process took so long. An additional concerns was the fact that many people in the ward were unsure what the elections were about, even after she had tried to explain to as many people as possible. She also reported that some voters had been bused in while others were not afforded the opportunity of transport to get to the venue.

“A few supportive people came out from our ward but we needed more support than we received. It was a long day, but it was necessary for the future running of our ward. We need people to come out, stay, support and fight for what is right,” she said.

Ward 27:

VOTING in Ward 27 under Councillor Martin Meyer went a little more peacefully and there were no repots of disruptions and violence. “Unfortunately the turnout was not great, even though we did reach our quorum within the allowed time. There are however a few concerns that did come to light that I am now investigating regarding incorrect information given by the IEC at the venue which prevented people from participating. As this is still being investigated I cannot give much detail at this time,” he said.

Meyer said he was concerned that once again the committee elected was not representative of the ward as a whole and that the outcome was manipulated by the ANC. “They handed out slips with names at the door instructing people how to vote, and it was clear that the positions had been decided on at an ANC branch level. I want to however thank the residents who did make the time to come, and apologise to those residents who were turned away or were given the wrong information,” he said.

Meyer urged anyone who could throw light on how they were given the wrong information by the IEC at the Clarence Road voting venue, they should contact him at ward27@ethekwini.org.