Local Government Elections:
broad overview
Jaap de Visser
jdevisser@uwc.ac.za
Two systems of local
government
metropolitan (City of Cape Town)
 non-metropolitan (rest)

City of Cape Town – ‘stand alone’
municipality
 Everywhere else: number of local
municipalities in one district
municipality

Two electoral systems
50% proportional representation
 50% ward representation

PR elections

Inclusive system: no need for absolute
majority to win a seat – number of
seats correlates with number of votes
received

Political party controls party list – PR
councillors are primarily accountable
to the party
Broad procedure
Party registers with IEC (nationally or
for municipality)
 Political party submits party list
 Election: party obtains percentage of
vote
 That percentage determines no of seats
 IEC fills seats by taking candidates from
party list into Council
 Vacancy?  party brings another cllr,
doesn’t change politics of council

Ward election
Candidates nominated by parties
 Candidates nominated by residents
(independents)

 50

signatures of voters in the ward
Winner-takes-it-all election: whoever
has most votes wins the ward
 (but

votes for losing candidates count)
Vacancy?  IEC holds by-election 
can change majority in council
City of Cape Town

Two ballots
Voter in CoCT
Outside Cape Town

3 ballots
Voter outside of City of Cape
Town

NB! Single Electoral Cycle: 5 ballot
papers??
Appointment of local
representatives to district
 First
meeting of local council:
election of district representatives
 Size of local municipality (no. of
voters) determines size of delegation
 IEC manages the election
How does it work?

Cllr or a party submits a list to IEC
 parties/cllrs
can submit combined lists
Councillors vote during meeting: each
list receives percentage of vote
 that percentage determines seat
allocation  composition reflects
composition of local council
 Party composition of district delegation
remains the same throughout term
(despite by-elections)

Election outcome 2006
7 out 30 municipalities  outright
majority
 rest: coalitions

Now (after number of by-elections):
 10 out of 30 municipalities  outright
majority
 rest: coalitions

How are coalitions formed?
Depends on system chosen by Province
 Mayor appoints coalition that lasts as
long as it has support of majority in
council
(Executive mayor system: mayor appoints
members of mayoral committee at his/her
pleasure); OR

Council elects an inclusive executive
committee, forced to work together
Executive committee system: executive (led
by mayor) must broadly reflect composition of
How are coalitions formed?
Depends on system chosen by Province
W  Mayor appoints coalition that has
support of majority in council
C
(Executive mayor system: mayor appoints
A
members of mayoral committee at his/her
P
pleasure); OR
E
 Council elects an inclusive executive
committee
Executive committee system: executive (led
by mayor) must broadly reflect composition of
the council
Executive Mayor
EM appoints
MAYORAL
COMMITTEE
Executive Mayor
EM appoints
MAYORAL
COMMITTEE
Executive Committee
Council elects
Executive
Committee
Demarcation of wards

Importance
 Election
of ward councillors
 Ward cllr presides over ward committee
Who? Demarcation Board
 How?
 Criteria in law, e.g.:

 avoid
fragmentation of communities
 accessible and safe voting stations
 identifiable ward boundaries
 but…
Numbers game
Number of voters
= Norm
Number of wards
MDB cannot deviate by
more than 30%

E.g. norm in CPT: approx 12000/ward
Challenge

MDB completed ward delimitation in
Western Cape
 new
areas divided into wards (e.g.
Laingsburg and abolished District
Management Areas)

Numbers game  sometimes in
‘illogical’ ward boundaries
 e.g.
Houtbay ≠ one ward
 other examples of wards straddles
mountains and ‘natural’ communities
(Illogical wards or ‘Rainbow Nation’?)