The submission of political parties and independent candidates who will contest the upcoming local government elections was finalised last night.
Any party or candidate who failed to give in their nomination list to the IEC yesterday will not compete in the polls. Next, the commission has until month end to inform parties of individuals appearing on many lists. The final lists will be confirmed and published on September 7.
However, as we approach the elections it is very important for residents of municipalities to get involved by first registering and assessing the parties and candidates.
Many municipalities are dysfunctional and others have collapsed. Just last week we reported on Clover leaving the Ditsobotla municipality in North West, for Queensburgh in Durban because of poor delivery of services.
The Ditsobotla municipality was not an isolated case as several concerned organisations or communities had to approach courts to force provincial governments to place collapsed municipalities under administration. We have reported on a number of them.
The Emalahleni community took the Mpumalanga government to court, while in the Eastern Cape there were calls for intervention in the Makana and Enoch Mgijima municipalities. Kannaland municipality in the Western Cape was the subject of another court bid.
Mafube and Maluti-a-Phofung in the Free State also faced the same challenges. In Gauteng, the Tshwane municipality was placed under administration in March last year by the provincial government, which cited “mismanagement and irregular expenditure”. There were service delivery protests and infighting within the ANC, DA and EFF in the municipality that is home to the capital, Pretoria.
On July 14, the IEC launched online voter registration to allow new voters to register and current ones to update their details. But the normal hype that comes with an election year has not been there due to the global pandemic, and if the IEC succeeds in its application to the Constitutional Court the polls might be postponed to next year.
We urge people to register. This is the chance to assess the state of service delivery in your area, check the track record of nominated candidates so you can make an informed decision when it is time to vote. Take this process seriously and get involved soon, as the people you choose will be the ones to deliver services.
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