DON’T LEAVE YOU alone in the woods with the results of the by-election if you are going to rely heavily on it to see which party may do well in the upcoming local government elections.
Here in KwaZulu-Natal there are already several options for amendment and there are still other wards that will be amended before the local government elections which are expected to be held at the end of the year.
What is noteworthy is that people have started using the results of the recent by-elections to see which way the water may flow in the upcoming elections.
The truth is that by-elections will always be different from local government elections.
What is noteworthy is that there are few who vote when there is a by-election. What makes by-elections different from local government elections is that there are usually fewer people who vote in by-elections.
The excitement is low if it is a by-election because only one ward is contested. It is not the same as local government elections where the management of municipalities is contested.
When there are local government elections, parties have big campaigns led by prominent leaders. There are national ceremonies to present the document of promises and wrapping ceremonies in view of the elections known as ‘Siyanqoba’.
What is worth noting is that even in the by-election, the parties are really intensifying their campaigns as they are sending prominent leaders and members of parties from other areas to assist in the campaigns.
Although it is so, local government elections will never be equal to elections and amendments, irrigation is not equal to a river.
One of the reasons why the number of people who vote in the by-election is that it is usually on a Wednesday, which is not a holiday as it happens in the general election.
Many people are at work, come back from work at night tired and it is far from the polling stations.
There are also a small number of people who live in another place, maybe in a member, but people vote in their homes where they come from.
It becomes difficult for a person in that situation to get the opportunity to vote at home when the amendment is made.
The spokesperson for the organization overseeing the elections in KwaZulu-Natal, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Mr. Thabani Ngwira, said that they do everything in their power to encourage people to vote in the by-election but the number of voters remains low.
“We always complain that the people who vote in the national elections are not the same as the people who vote in the local government elections. They are very small when it is a by-election. There is nothing we do not do when there will be a by-election. We visit the places where there will be a by-election. We cooperate with the Legislature and the Ministry of Governance in Cooperation with Indigenous Affairs. But it turns out to be the same.”
OBJECTION OF A DEFAULT
Another thing that has come to light is that with the by-election, allegations are being raised that there are people who are voting in areas where they do not live.
It is common on social media to spread videos of people being transported to other places to vote where they do not live.
Some allegations were made before the election when parties complained about the list of those who had registered to vote.
The IFP once lodged a complaint during the by-election in ward 99 in the Durban Municipality, in 2022. It complained that there were 150 people who appeared to live elsewhere. Then when looking at the place they registered to live in it was found to be a place without a building.
There is another group that had the same addresses and when it was checked, it was found that the addresses they registered to live in point to the police station, to some shops in Mkhomazi.
The ANC has complained about 135 people who had the same address during the by-election in ward 110 in Thekwini Municipality.
The ANC frowned and said that the address is for a residence that cannot accommodate 135 people.
Recently, the ANC complained about the large number of people with unverified addresses who were registered to vote during the by-election in ward 23 in the BaQulusini Municipality.
The ANC said that when they went to look for these people in the umbrellas they had put up, they were told they were unknown. But the IEC has denied these allegations.
Ngwira said groups are given the opportunity to complain if they suspect corruption in the list of people who are registered to vote.
Ngwira said parties can even go to court to challenge the results of the election if there is even one person who has voted in an area where he does not live.
Ngwira said there were three results of the by-election that were annulled by the Electoral Court after it was found that there were people who voted where they did not live.
“It is up to the political parties to present evidence that there are people who voted in the area they do not live in.”
(SIDEBAR BELOW)
What does the latest by-election tell us?
The last by-election in KwaZulu-Natal shows that the IFP is in the lead. This is not surprising because of course the IFP is the power in the municipalities of KwaZulu-Natal as it is in charge of most of the municipalities in this province.
Last week, IFP won the by-election in ward 13 in Mzumbe Municipality. In December, he closed the year by winning the by-election in ward 17 in the Mfolozi Municipality.
There are two other wards that were won by the IFP in the by-elections held last year.
In July, the IFP won the by-election in ward 23 in the BaQulusini Municipality, in February it won the by-election in ward 15 in the KwaMhlabuyalingana Municipality.
MKP also did not put itself down in the by-election in KwaZulu-Natal last year. He won the by-election in Mandeni Municipality, he also won the by-election in ward 10 in Thekwini Municipality, the by-election in KwaDukuza Municipality and the Richmond Municipality.
The ANC won by-elections in two areas last year, in Phongolo Municipality and Mpofana Municipality.
They are yet to compete in the by-election in KwaZulu-Natal
The races in the by-elections in KwaZulu-Natal are NOT over before the local government elections.
Next week there will be a by-election in ward 17 in Nongoma Municipality following the resignation of the NFP councillor. Next month there will be a by-election in ward 12 in the Qulusini Municipality.
There is one that will be held in Nongoma Municipality which has not yet been announced when it will be held.
Local government elections will be held between November and January.