200 parties, 61 000 candidates to contest 2016 Municipal Elections
A record 200 parties and 61 014 candidates will contest the 3 August 2016 Municipal Elections following the certification on 27 June 2016 of parties and candidates contesting the elections.
This is approximately 65% more parties and approximately 12% more candidates than the previous municipal elections held in 2011.
As part of the verification of compliance process 8 350 candidates were disqualified. Of the candidates disqualified, the vast majority were disqualified for non-submission of documentation (46%), non-payment of deposit (38%) and not being registered voters in the municipality in which they wanted to contest (15%).
However, two issues could still see the final numbers of parties and candidates subject to minor amendments.
The first relates to 73 payments which the Electoral Commission received on time but could not link to a party or candidate as the payment did not contain the correct deposit reference number.
An unlinked deposit is not of itself anomalous to compliance and where the relevant parties and/or candidates can show a link to a payment received on time they will be allowed to contest. Parties and candidates who were disqualified have been notified and it is hoped those whose electronic payments form part of the 73 will contact the Electoral Commission urgently.
A second issue relates to any court challenges of disqualification by parties or candidates. The Electoral Commission is aware of at least one party which has approached the Electoral Court to overturn its disqualification for non-payment of deposit.
The court process is outside of the control of the Electoral Commission. However, resolution of final candidate and party lists is of the utmost urgency as the Electoral Commission must commence the printing of ballot papers by 4 July in order to ensure they are ready for the 3 August election.
There are a total of 4 649 unique ballot papers for the 2016 Municipal Elections:
- 4 392 ward ballot papers
- 205 local council Proportional Representation (PR) ballot papers
- 8 metro council PR ballot papers
- 44 District Council ballot papers
Voters in metros will complete two ballot papers and voters in all other municipalities will complete three ballot papers. The Electoral Commission plans to print approximately 80 million copies of ballot papers to ensure sufficient ballots for all voters.
The following is a breakdown of the growth in parties and candidates contesting municipal elections since 2000:
Election Party PR Party Ward Independent Total % change for total
2000 16 156 13 236 689 30 081 n/a
2006 21 498 23 028 663 45 189 +50%
2011 23 303 29 700 754 53 757 +19%
2016 25 890 34 293 831 61 014 +12%
The provincial breakdown is as follows:
Province PR Ward Independent Grand Total
Eastern Cape 4,024 4,210 160 8,394
Free State 1,721 2,193 82 3,996
Gauteng 3,287 5,539 71 8,897
KwaZulu-Natal 4,099 6,075 201 10,375
Limpopo 3,946 5,046 95 9,087
Mpumalanga 2,498 2,889 41 5,428
North West 2,463 2,706 78 5,247
Northern Cape 1,159 1,124 44 2,327
Western Cape 2,693 4,511 59 7,263
Grand Total 25,890 34,293 831 61,014
Of the candidates contesting the elections approximately 60% are male and 40% are female. However, gender parity is more closely achieved on party PR lists where the gender ratio is 52 men to 48 women. When it comes to ward candidates, the picture is different with 66% men versus 34% women. Of the 831 independent candidates, 86% are men and only 14% are women.
The province with the highest percentage of women candidates is Limpopo province (43%) followed by the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces (both at 42%) and then the Free State province (41%). The province with the lowest percentage of women candidates is KwaZulu-Natal province with 34%.
In terms of age, the average age of candidates is 44 years old (compared to 43 years in 2011). The youngest candidate is an 18 year old first-time voter who is standing for election in Ward 5 (EC 153) in Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape. The oldest candidate is 90 years old and is standing for election on the PR list in EC 443 in Mbizana Local Municipality, also in the Eastern Cape.
The number of candidates contesting per province is as follows:
Province Total number of candidates (incl. independents)
2016 Municipal Elections 2011 Municipal Elections
Eastern Cape: 8 394 7 239
Free State: 3 996 3 284
Gauteng: 8 897 9 034
KwaZulu-Natal: 10 375 10 412
Limpopo: 9 087 6 660
Mpumalanga: 5 428 4 378
North West 5 247 4 045
Northern Cape: 2 327 1 600
Western Cape: 7 263 7 105
Total: 61 014 53 757
The list of candidates contesting the elections in each municipality is available for inspection at the relevant municipal office of the Electoral Commission. A full list of all parties and candidates is also available on www.elections.org.za
For media queries:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
For media interviews:
E-mail: spokesperson@elections.org.za
