Rustenburg - Three municipal ward by-elections will take place in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and North West on Wednesday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said.
Ten candidates representing five political parties are contesting the by-elections. In the North West, Ward 18 in the Moretele municipality will be contested by Sello Lucas Moekeletsi of the African National Congress (ANC), Patricia Kedibone Mabusela of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Brenda Rebecca Mashigo of the National Freedom Party (NFP).
The ward was previously represented by the ANC and became vacant as a result of the death of the councillor. The voter turnout in the 2016 municipal elections was 52.12% and the ANC candidate won the ward with 69.42% of valid votes.
The by-election in this ward was originally scheduled for April 5, but was postponed to allow for the identification and removal of voters who were incorrectly registered in the ward. This followed objections to the voters’ roll by political parties.
The IEC approached the Electoral Court to condone the holding of the by-election outside of the 90 day window and the court granted the application to postpone the by-election by 90 days from April 12.
In KwaZulu-Natal, Ward 18 in the uMdoni municipality will be contested by Ndumiso Bridged Kumalo of the African Mantungwa Community, Doreen Nozipho Hlongwa of the ANC, Bongani Khathi of the EFF, Falini Jonah Cele of the Inkatha Freedom Party and Mandlenkosi Norman Dube of the National Freedom Party.
The ward was previously represented by the ANC and became vacant as a result of the death of the councillor. In Mpumalanga, Ward 6 in the Emakhazeni municipality will be contested by Jacob Thandizwe Duma of the ANC and Penuel Reginald Zimela of the EFF.
The ward was previously represented by the ANC and became vacant as a result of the death of the councillor.