30 January 2006
The final party and candidate lists for the 2006 Municipal Elections were
certified by the Electoral Commission (IEC) as was required by the Election
Timetable on 30 January 2006.
âThis was a culmination of many months of challenging work for political
parties and independent candidates who submitted their party lists and
nominations to the IEC by the 19th of January,â the Chairperson of the IEC, Dr
Brigalia Bam, said.
A total of 97 parties and 45 179 candidates countrywide will contest the
coming municipal elections.
âThis is significantly higher than the 2000 Municipal Elections. There is
almost a 50 percent increase in the total number of candidates from 30 477 to
45 179, which is spread across the nine provinces. Parties contesting the
elections have also increase by 19 percent from 79 to 97,â said Dr Bam.
Two parties, the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance will
be contesting elections in all municipalities.
Of the 45 179 candidates, 23 672 are party ward candidates, 667 are
independent ward candidates and 21 507 are party list candidates. More than 20
percent of candidates (9 081) are contesting both ward and PR while 12 of the
667 independent ward candidates are contesting as PR candidates on a party
list.
In total 43 candidates are standing for more than one party.
The gender distribution of the candidates stands at 65 percent males and 35
percent females which is similar to the 2000 Municipal Elections.
Altogether 932 candidates have been disqualified who would have stood as
candidates in 1 298 positions. The disqualifications can be contributed to:
* Candidates not being on the votersâ roll
* Candidates not being on the segment of the Votersâ Roll of the municipality
they want to contest
* Instances where candidates did not submit documents and/or deposits as
required by the Municipal Electoral Act.
There were also late submissions of candidates list and/or deposits which
led to disqualifications which are not included in the 1 298.
On the 13 February 2006, the IEC will issue certificates to all candidates
contesting the 2006 Municipal Elections.
South Africa has been demarcated into 3 895 wards of which 11 are
uncontested.
Dr Bam said that now that the process of candidate nomination has been
completed, the IEC will proceed with arrangements to print the more than 4 000
different ballot papers as required for these elections.
The following attachments will be sent by separate email:
* Breakdown per party per province
* Breakdown of candidates per province
* Comparisons with the 2000 Municipal Elections
* Gender breakdown per province
* Breakdown of disqualified candidates per province, gender and type of
election.
Enquiries:
Lydia Young
Cell: 082 650 8652
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
30 January 2006
