Rustenburg - The Congress of the People (Cope) expects to win at least three wards in the Tlokwe municipal by-elections next month, the party said on Wednesday.
“We are participating in Tlokwe by-elections of the 24th February 2016 and we will be contesting all seven wards. We are very much ready and anticipating at least two to three wards,” North West provincial spokesman Kenneth Maduna said.
Municipal by-elections would also be held in Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) on February 24, following a Constitutional Court ruling nullifying the outcome of a 2013 by-election.
The ballot results in the seven wards in Tlokwe were set aside following a lengthy legal process through the Electoral Court and ultimately the Constitutional Court.
The court found there were irregularities in the voters’ roll for the by-elections, which included voters from adjoining wards, and that the electoral commission had not availed to contestants a voters’ roll with addresses.
Six political parties and eight independent candidates will be standing for election in wards one, four, 11, 12, 13, 18 and 20 in Tlokwe.
Tlokwe local municipality is a hotly contested political terrain in which the ANC is being challenged by opposition parties as well as independent candidates.
African News Agency
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