The 2021 Municipal Elections are fast approaching, but the state of local government won’t be the only thing that is up in the air.
The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) uses the time before each local government election to reassess the size and borders of every ward in South Africa.
They utilise a number of factors in their assessment hoping to level out the number of voters in each ward by creating an average. Wards with too many voters will be re-demarcated, meaning some voters will then become part of a ward with fewer registered voters.
Currently, the MDB is aiming for an average of 16 972 registered voters per ward, with a minimum of 14 442 and a maximum of 19 517.
The MDB had already proposed the new boundaries for several wards, including Ward 70. The councillor for this ward, Caleb Finn, said that because his ward has more than 20 000 registered voters, it was red-flagged immediately.
Ward 70 is the only ward in the Record’s area that is likely to be affected by the re-demarcation because all of the other wards fit into the threshold.
Realising that his ward would probably be affected, Caleb brought this information to the attention of his residents to give them a heads-up about what could happen. With the newly proposed outline, the biggest change would occur on the western side of Ward 70. The western boundary was previously Elias Motsoaledi Road, but the new proposal has marked it at Fleurhof Drive (an extension of Odendaal Road).
The new boundary connects to Westlake Road, making the new southern boundary Albertina Sisulu Road. “The greatest impact will be that the Jerusalem/ Rugby Club informal settlement and the Rand Leases Industrial Estate would then become part of Ward 127 instead of Ward 70,” said Caleb.
He said that all the other residential areas within the ward will remain so, as per the proposed demarcation.
The proposed re-demarcations for the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality will go to public consultation next month (17 March), as one of the many stages in the process (including objections and second drafts). Once the new boundaries have been determined, they will take effect from the date of the 2021 Local Government Elections.
The number of registered voters for each un-affected ward is:
• Ward 71: over 17 300 registered voters
• Ward 83: 16 171 registered voters
• Ward 84: 18 885 registered voters
• Ward 85: 19 437 registered voters
