Johannesburg - The ANC and DA sent out big guns to lobby support for their parties contesting the four vacant seats in the City of Joburg following the mass resignation of former DA councillors in the city.
The ANC is preparing to increase its majority in the City of Joburg while the DA is hoping to retain its seats in all four wards.
One of the former DA councillors, Sarah Wissler in ward 23, defected to Action SA – a party founded by former DA mayor Herman Mashaba.
Another former DA ward 7 councillor Danny Netnou is now courting the ANC while other former DA councillors Peter Rafferty and Faizel Jaffer in ward 17 and 18 respectively in Eldorado Park, have defected to the Patriotic Alliance (PA) under Gayton McKenzie.
Rafferty stood as a PA councillor-elect in the same ward while Ann Adams was bidding to replace him as DA councillor. Other candidates contesting ward 17 are ANC’s Liesl Valloo; Licardo Green from the African Independent Congress (AIC) and Al Jama-Ah’s Freddie Wilson.
In ward 23, which comprises Mulbarton; Glenvista, Glenanda, Bassonia, Kibler Park, Eikenhof, Mayfield Park, Aspen Hills, Patlyn and Rietvlei, only three parties, the DA, ANC and EFF are competing for the councillor position.
Voter turn-out was low, and by midday, only 120 votes had been cast. There are 3 270 registered voters in the ward.
IEC presiding officer Mary Rakumakoe said voter turn-out was expected to be low because of the usual trend in by-elections.
Marcus Dinakwane, a voter, said: “We want to see change and if the person we vote in will bring us to change,” Dinakwane said.
Ward 7 in Finetown and Ennerdale was the most contested.
A total of six political parties including one Independent candidate contested for the ward.
A total of 3 070 people were eligible to vote at the Finetown Primary School voting station – the biggest in ward 7.
Parties were represented by their agents to monitor that the by-elections were indeed free and fair as according to the Electoral Commission .
The voting station’s IEC presiding officer Semakaleng Matsau, was also optimistic about a positive voter turnout. At about 3pm, more than 500 had already visited her station to cast their votes, but more people were expected arrive at 6pm. Voting ended at 9pm.
So optimistic was Matsau that her fellow electoral officers expressed happiness that their station reported the highest number of special votes compared to other stations in ward 7.
Results were expected on Thursday.
The Star