The Independent Electoral Commission in the North West says it’s ready for the highly-contested by-elections for Ditsobotla Local Municipality on Wednesday where more than 10 political parties, including the ANC, the EFF and the DA will be contesting for 20 wards.
This follows the dissolution of the troubled Lichtenburg-based municipality by the provincial government after months of instability.
The IEC’s provincial head, Dr Tumelontle Thiba, said they will start with the special votes on Tuesday.
“The special voting day will be on the 13th, and the actual by-elections will be on Wednesday the 14th. We have received quite a number of applications for the special votes.
“In total 8 453 applications have been approved, 2 237 of which are home, settled and 6 216 are those who will come to the stations,” Thiba said.
She said more than 10 political parties will be contesting for 20 wards.
“There are 15 political parties and two independent candidates who have shown an interest in the elections and have registered their candidates. All in all the municipality has 20 wards. So all of them will be contested because it is the entire municipality,” she said.
Meanwhile, one of the contesting parties is the newly formed Active African Christians United Movement (AACUM).
AACUM’s chairperson in the North West, Archie Choeneemang, said their party has leaders with morals, who will restore the dignity of the troubled Ditsobotla.
“These are serious moral degeneration in our local government. These are corruption, fraud, and lawlessness. Now, AACUM is based on biblical and Christian values. The first thing that we will bring into the local municipality is the moral standard of a leader.
“That’s number 1 to restore the moral standard of our political leaders. Number 2 is to deal with issues of corruption and fraud and ensure as we sit in that council that the budget allocated to improve the lives of our people is used for that and to hold whoever is responsible accountable.
“This is to make sure that our people receive the new service delivery they deserve,” Choeneemang said.
He encouraged people to vote for his party next week.
“I would like to encourage our people in the Ditsobotla area. This time around let’s just not vote for any party. AACUM is here. It is a newly established political party, which has come to Ditsobotla to come and add value to the lives of our people. We are bringing change, we are bringing morality and we are dealing with corruption and fraud. We can only do that by putting the right people in the right positions with your help,” he said.
