DA wants ward poll set aside

THE DA in eThekwini Municipality has asked municipal Speaker Lekgoa Mapena to invalidate development committee elections in 100 wards held two weeks ago.

DA chief whip in eThekwini Sharon Chetty said the elections were rigged.

She also claimed that the polls were marred by acts of violence.

Mapena yesterday denied Chetty’s allegations.

The role of the committees is to facilitate development and service delivery, as their members would assist and advise ward councillors.

Chetty alleged Mapena changed the venues of the elections at the last minute, which was only known to ANC members and councillors.

“In many instances, the elections were held in secret, with only the ANC structures being informed of the venue,” said Chetty.

“Several elections were postponed by the presiding officers because of ANC members refusing to abide by the rulings of the presiding officers,” said Chetty.

She was also concerned that the ward committees would waste ratepayers’ money as members would be paid a monthly stipend of R1 000.

“This will cost ratepayers almost R66 million over a fiveyear period.

“In almost all of the ward committee elections held, there have been massive irregularities and the principles of electoral legislation were completely ignored,” she said.

Chetty said violence and intimidation “became the order of the day”.

She said the DA would take urgent legal action to set the results of the elections aside.

Mapena said the venues were changed because of security reasons, as original venues were found to be risky for elections.

“There was no controlled access to the venue, as people would enter anywhere,” Mapena said.

He said that councillors from various political parties were informed about the changes.

“About the DA’s Ward 69, I particularly informed the councillor (Ganas Govender) on Friday around 2pm, telling him that because of security reason we would want to change the venue from Bayview to Lamontville.”