The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said it has noted a growing interest of aspiring independent candidates and new political parties who continue to register to contest next year’s much talked about municipal elections in the country.
The commission has launched a series of nationwide information workshops aimed at empowering would-be candidates and new political parties for the elections.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, the commission’s acting General Manager for Electoral Operations James Aphane said that the workshop is also targeting those that have not yet registered to contest elections.
“We do have a structure called political liaison committee which from time to time we interact with at the municipal, provincial and national level as part of our engagement with parties that are represented.
In this instance we are mainly focussing on parties that have registered, aspirant candidates and those that would want to register parties,” explained Aphane.
He said that the workshops are important to conscientize those who would wish to contest elections to consider registering as early yet to avoid disappointment at the last minute.
“This is extremely important because, as you would expect that usually when it comes to elections people always have an issue with time, and we all know that time gets lost at the beginning and not at the end.
So, we just want to make sure that people are aware firstly when the election is likely to take place, which is between the November 2nd 2026 and the end of January 2027.
We do not know the date yet because that date will be announced by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Velenkosini Hlabisa) and hopefully later proclaimed, because once proclaimed then candidate nomination kicks in and we have an election timetable that we all must abide by,” said Aphane.
The commission said that it has witnessed a growing interest of aspirant candidates and political parties to contest next year’s municipal elections.
“There’s been over 60 new political parties that have been registered and in total we are sitting with over 500 political parties that have been registered nationally.
In the North West we have about 13 or 14 political parties that have currently been registered, but registration of political parties is ongoing, and we hope people will take this opportunity to do it well in advance.
They can attend the sessions which are organised for December 2nd in the North West, and they’re also welcomed to visit our website to see opportunities where they can see additional information,” explained Aphane.
He however cautioned candidates and parties regarding the normal requirements processes that they will be taken through to ensure that they meet the criteria and qualification to contest elections.
“Independent candidates will need to submit a supporters or 50 registered voters in a ward they’re hoping to contest and pay a deposit of R1000 which has not changed from the previous elections, which means participation in the local government elections is not that constraint.
With regards to political parties obviously they will be expected to submit a candidate list containing names of people you’re contesting in a particular ward,” highlighted Aphane.
