Democracy has manifested itself in the region, and barring a few contentious incidents, most will agree the local government elections have been ‘free and fair’ and, best of all, voters have been able to make their choices without intimidation.
Thanks to the wonderful assistance of the IEC and its hard-working staff – and ours – this newspaper has been able to keep readers up to speed as voting and results unfolded.
Mastery of modern means of gathering and disseminating information has made this possible, and in addition our printed newspapers have been able to give more in-depth analysis and pictorial content.
While each vote and each electoral district carries the same weight of value, without doubt focus was on the City of uMhlathuze, owing to its economic and strategic importance as the economic hub of the region and third largest economy in the province.
The ruling party, the ANC, amassed virtually two thirds of the total number of votes.
This must be seen as not merely votes on a ballot paper, but a vote of confidence in the local government structure at the city.
It has often been voiced that residents of the City of uMhlathuze have been spared service delivery protests that have caused extreme damage and injury in many parts of the country.
This is an indication that, by and large, residents and ratepayers are reasonably satisfied with the levels of service, and the result seems to vindicate that viewpoint.
That having been said, reputation counts for little and voters will be looking for even better performance in future.
Mayor Mdu Mhlongo admitted as much in modestly accepting victory, saying he wants to increase the pace of service delivery and will ‘reflect on and diagnose the results’ with a view to moving towards clearly defined economic growth plans.
