The Electoral Commission is well-prepared to receive over 51 000 registered voters for the by-election in the Thabazimbi Local Municipality on Wednesday, 4 December 2024.
By-elections in Thabazimbi come after the dissolution of the entire local municipality in August 2024, effectively rendering all ward seats and proportional representation seats vacant. The Municipality consists of 12 wards and 57 voting districts, and therefore a by-election will occur in all 12 wards. There are a total of 24 seats for the municipality, of which 12 are ward seats and 12 are proportional representation (PR) seats.
The Electoral Commission is further pleased to announce that all contracts and lease agreements for the 57 voting stations have been concluded. Furthermore, we have published the list of addresses of the 57 voting stations that will be used in these by-elections. All these voting stations will open on Wednesday, 4 December 2024, from 07h00 am to 21h00 to allow all registered voters in the area to cast their votes.
The municipality's population is approximately 64 993 citizens with 51 399 registered voters. Among the registered voters, there are over 20,000 females registered, while close to 30,000 males are registered – significantly, more than 1,300 new voters aged 18-19 who did not participate in the 2024 general elections. The breakdown of the registered voters further indicates that the highest registered population came from Ward 5 with just over 6 000 voters, followed closely by Ward 8 registering 5 741 voters, and Ward 9 with 5 221 voters.
An essential part of our preparations involved interacting with a range of stakeholders, including political parties, independent candidates, security cluster and government agencies in the province, community organisations, key businesses including the mining houses, and voters in the Thabazimbi municipal area. Through these interactions, we believe that elections will reflect the true will of Thabazimbi residents and that the election will be successfully conducted in a free and fair manner.
Several civic and voter education activities have taken place in all 12 wards of the Thabazimbi municipality. The Electoral Commission’s officials conducted the education sessions almost daily to reach the over 51 000 registered voters. This is to ensure that community members are fully informed of the electoral processes and how and why to exercise their democratic voting rights.
Candidate Nomination
A total of 405 candidates – comprising five (5) independent candidates and 400 political party candidates – will contest the forthcoming by-elections. Of these, 214 are male candidates and 191 are female. Nominations of candidates closed on 11 November 2024 and that period was followed by the verifications and objections processes. Two independent candidates will be contesting in Ward 3, and the other three will be contesting in wards 5, 7, and 8 respectively. The independents are aged between 34 and 54 years.
|
|
Female |
Male |
Total Count |
Total % |
||
| Count |
% |
Count |
% |
|||
| LIM361 - Thabazimbi |
191 |
47.16% |
214 |
52.84% |
405 |
100.00% |
| PR |
85 |
52.15% |
78 |
47.85% |
163 |
100.00% |
| Ward |
106 |
43.80% |
136 |
56.20% |
242 |
100.00% |
| Grand Total |
191 |
47.16% |
214 |
52.84% |
405 |
100.00% |
| Age Cat |
Count |
| >=20<=29 |
53 |
| >=30<=39 |
121 |
| >=40<=49 |
125 |
| >=50<=59 |
68 |
| >=60 |
38 |
| Grand Total |
405 |
The 21 political parties contesting these by-elections are as follows: African Congress for Transformation; African Heart Congress; African Independent Congress; African National Congress; African Transformation Movement; African Unemployed Congress; Bolsheviks Party of South Africa; Defenders of African Dignity; Defenders of the People; Democratic Alliance; Economic Freedom Fighters; Inkatha Freedom Party; Labour Party of South Africa; Pan Africanist Congress of Azania; Patriotic Alliance; Thabazimbi Forum For Service Delivery; Thabazimbi Residents Association; Umkhonto Wesizwe; United Democratic Movement; United Resident's Party and Vryheidsfront Plus.
Ballot papers
In preparation for these elections, the Commission has printed about 108 200 ballot papers (Ward and PR). It is worth noting that for these by-elections voters will receive two ballots. The two ballot papers are the Ward ballot and the Local Council PR ballot.
Training of Voting Station Officials
In terms of the necessary capacity, the Electoral Commission has begun training 349 electoral personnel who will oversee the electoral process at all voting locations. The training for all electoral personnel will be completed on 29 November 2024. A total of 57 Presiding Officers have been appointed, and their names were submitted to the parties running in the elections on 18 November 2024 for vetting, and no objections were received.
Special Votes
Applications for special votes, home visits, and voting station visits opened on 18 November 2024 and closed on 22 November 2024. Of the 4 747 approved applications, 665 are home visits and 4 082 are special votes that will be carried out at the voting stations.
Home visits are intended for those voters who are unable to travel to voting stations, while special votes at voting stations are for registered citizens who are unable to visit their voting station on by-election day. Special votes at voting stations and special vote home visits will be conducted on 3 December 2024 between 08h00 and 17h00.
After the casting of special votes, ballots in their double envelopes will be transported to a secure place. To protect the secrecy of the vote, all such special votes are first placed in an unmarked envelope, which is then inserted into a second envelope marked with the voting station and voter’s particulars for verification on the list of approved special votes.
Counting of all votes
The counting of all ballots, including special votes and those cast on voting day, will take place after voting concludes at 21:00 on 4 December 2024, with representatives from parties and contestants present. The result is produced for each ballot at the voting station. This result is cosigned by representatives of political parties and independents for correct recording of the count at that voting station. This result document is relied on for the processing of results to seats allocation.
After the counting process, the Commission will allocate the seats. For the allocation of seats, we will apply proportional representation for the local council and majoritarian “winner takes all” for the wards.
Conclusion
To promote transparency in the voting processes, the Electoral Commission is establishing a mini-Results Operation Centre (ROC) at the Thabazimbi Municipal Council Chamber, where the management of these by-elections will take place. The results centres are there for political party representatives and independents to monitor the voting, counting and results process. Parties and independents have the opportunity to raise objections to any alleged irregularities.
The Electoral Commission is confident that all arrangements have been concluded for conducting free and fair elections in the region, including the logistics and the procurement of voting supplies for each voting station.
Finally, we encourage all registered voters in Thabazimbi Local Municipality to turn out in large numbers to cast their votes on Wednesday, 4 December 2024. Those who have requested a home visit should remain at home and await our officials on the day of special voting. We appeal to employers, businesses, and mining companies in the region to give registered voters the opportunity to go and vote.
Additionally, we encourage candidates to approach the forthcoming elections peacefully and with composure by following the Electoral Code of Conduct.
An important reminder to voters is that they may only vote at a voting station at which they are registered. It is a criminal offence for voters to register and vote in a ward in which they are not residents. Voters are further reminded to bring their identity documents (ID) with them – either a green barcoded ID book, a smartcard ID, or a valid Temporary ID Certificate – to be able to vote.
Ensuring free and fair elections
For media queries: Please contact Kate Bapela on 082 600 6386 or spokesperson@elections.org.za
