Joburg ward committee elections get underway
Ward committe members are democratically elected to serve for a period of five years.
Johannesburg’s ward committee elections finally got underway on May 7 after they were postponed in March due to the high number of objections after nominations were made public.
Councillor Vasco da Gama the Speaker of Council said, “The first of the eight scheduled ward committee elections took place in Region F on May 7. Over 4 500 votes were cast which is a good indication of the interest in ward committees. Residents are encouraged to cast their votes for the candidates they think will best represent their community in support of the ward councillors.”
Voting stations opened at 09:00 and closed at 16:00 on voting days. One can only vote in the ward registered in and not across wards with an SA Identity Document.
“The elections are being run by the Office of the Speaker with technical support and training from the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) which gives me satisfaction that elections will be free, fair and transparent especially since residents have had to wait a while due to the postponement,” said Speaker da Gama.
Ward committees comprise the ward councillor as the chairperson and 10 members of the community nominated to represent the following sectors: housing, environment, health, safety, transportation, development planning and urban management, infrastructure and services, finance and economic development, community development 1 (youth, sports and culture) and community development 2 (women, CBOs and NGOs and religious groupings).
“They are democratically elected to serve for five years, attend monthly meetings and advise the councillor on community needs, mood and perceptions as well as inform the community of municipal developments and resolutions,” explained da Gama.
For more information on ward committee elections contact: pinkyt@joburg.org.za on 083 375 2719 or lijengm@joburg.org.za on 083 763 0235.
