Municipal by-elections set for April 21
DELIBERATELY voting with the “wrong” political party has brought about two of the three municipal by-elections to be fought in the province next month.
The Electoral Commission announced the three electoral battles alongside 11 around the country will be fought on April 21.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said the by-elections were originally planned for this month but the Electoral Court postponed them because the country was still at level 3.
“The return to alert level 1 has since opened the way for the resumption of some political activities, including political gatherings of up to 100 people in an indoor venue and 250 people in an outdoor venue. Another set of outstanding by-elections is scheduled for May 19. These two sets of by-elections will help to clear the decks of vacancies ahead of the Local Government Elections scheduled for between August 4 and November 1.”
The three wards where voters will be queuing to elect new representatives include Beaufort West’s Ward 4 where Michael Motsoane was expelled from the ANC last month after he was accused of gross insubordination and voting with the DA at a council meeting.
A similar reason caused the by-election in Ward 11 in Knysna where Lorraine Opperman, 73, was expelled from the DA after she voted with the ANC on a motion during a council meeting.
The City’s vacancy in Ward 20 was occasioned by the death in January of Courtney van Wyk (DA) after a threeyear battle with stomach cancer.
The IEC said: “Under the current local government Municipal Structures Act, the cut-off for the filling of ward vacancies ahead of the elections is May 1, six months from the latest possible date for the local government elections. The nine-month deadline for the cessation of by-elections in the case of dissolved municipal councils has already passed.”