2016 Municipal Elections Fact Sheet: Post Proclamation Section 1: Candidates 1. How many municipalities are there? Following the municipal demarcation process undertaken by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), the number of municipalities has been reduced from 278 in 2011 to 257. This includes: 

8 metropolitan municipalities (unchanged from 2011)



205 local municipalities (compared to 226 in 2011) and



44 district municipalities (unchanged).

2. How many wards are there? Election

Number of Wards

Percentage increase

2000

3 794

2006

3 895

2.6%

2011

4 277

9.8%

2016

4 392

2.7%

-

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3. How many parties are contesting the elections? National total: Election

Number

of

Parties Percentage increase

contesting PR lists 2000

79

-

2006

97

23%

2011

121

25%

2016

206*

69%

*This is still subject to final confirmation and validation Provincial totals: The Western Cape will have the highest number of parties contesting (77) followed by Limpopo (56), Gauteng (45) and the Eastern Cape (43). The smallest number of parties will contest in the Northern Cape (18). Number Of Parties

Province

2016 Municipal Elections

2011 Municipal Elections

Eastern Cape

43

29

Free State

27

18

Gauteng

45

36

KwaZuluNatal

32

28

Limpopo

56

22

Mpumalanga

34

21

North West

31

20

Northern Cape

18

11

Western Cape

77

62

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4. What is the order of parties/candidates on the ballot papers? The Proportional Representation ballot papers (Council PR and District Council PR) are ordered in alphabetical order starting with one party which is picked at random in a lucky draw, This draw took place on 8 June 2016 and the Pan Africanist Movement (PAM) was selected to top the ballot papers in those municipalities where it is contesting (it is contesting in 5 municipalities in the Eastern Cape). In all other municipalities where the PAM is not contesting he next party in alphabetical order (eg Patriotic Front) tops the ballot paper. War ballot papers (for candidates) are ordered in alphabetical order based on the surname of the candidates. 5. What are the longest and shortest ballot papers? The longest PR ballot paper will be the City of Cape Town metro with 37 parties. The shortest metro will be Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape with 10 parties. The following is a list of the number of parties contesting the metro councils: Metropolitan Council BUF - Buffalo City CPT - City of Cape Town EKU - Ekurhuleni ETH - eThekwini JHB - City of Johannesburg MAN - Mangaung NMA - Nelson Mandela Bay TSH - Tshwane Metro

Parties Contesting 10 37 26 26 28 13 19 20

Four municipalities in the Eastern Cape (EC102 - Blue Crane Route; EC123 - Great Kei; EC126 – Ngqushwa; EC131 - Inxuba Yethemba) share the shortest PR ballot paper with just three parties contesting each municipality.

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6. How many candidates are standing for election? Election

Party PR

Party Ward

Independent

Total

% change for total

2000

16 156

13 236

689

30 081

-

2006

21 498

23 028

663

45 189

+50%

2011

23 303

29 700

754

53 757

+19%

2016**

28 323

37 368

968

66 659

+24%

** The 2016 figures are as at 8 June 2016 and may still change as they are still subject to final capture and verification 7. How successful have independent candidates been in previous elections? In 2006 34 independent candidates won seats. In 2011 45 independent candidates won seats. 8. What does it cost to stand as a candidate? The following are the deposits payable for contesting the 2016 Municipal Elections: •

Metropolitan councils: R3500

•

Local municipal councils: R2000

•

District councils: R1000

•

Individual ward candidates: R1000

The total cost for a political party to contest all municipal councils is R482 000: •

8 metros X R3500 = R28 000

•

Plus 205 local councils X R2000 = R410 000

•

Plus 44 district councils X R1000 = R44 000

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9. How many candidates will eventually be elected? Seat type

2006

2011

2016

% increase 2011 to 2016

Metro ward seats

538

709

740

4%

Metro PR seats

536

706

738

5%

Local Ward seats

3 357

3 568

3 652

2%

Local PR seats

3 289

3 451

3 516

2%

640

654

655

0,1%

917

967

984

2%

20

N/A

N/A

-

Total Seats

9 297

10 055

10 285

2%

Total Councillors*

8 380

9 088

+/-9 301**

2%

District Council seats (40%) District Council (60%) DMA

*This excludes the DC (60%) as these councillors serve on both local and district councils **This is subject to all Section 12 notices being confirmed 10. What are the different kinds of ballot papers for 2016 Municipal Elections? There are three different types of ballot papers involved in these elections; 

WARD ballot paper: (this ballot will have a grey/white background) o Every voter will receive a ward ballot paper. All candidates contesting that ward seat in the council will appear on this ballot. The ballot will show the individual candidates names; in the case of a candidate Page 5 of 15

representing a political party, the candidate’s name will be followed by the party logo and abbreviation. In the case of an independent candidate, the name will be followed by a head and shoulders photograph and the letters ‘IND’. 

Council PR ballot paper: (this ballot will have a yellow background) o Every municipality (be it a metro or a normal local council) will receive a Council PR ballot paper. All political parties registered to contest seats in that council will appear on this ballot. The ballot will show the party name, logo and official abbreviation; no individual’s name will appear. Councilors will be appointed from the official list of candidates submitted in advance by the party – in accordance with the relative number of votes the party receives.



District Count PR ballot paper: (this ballot will have a green background) o In local municipalities, a District Council must be constituted. Every voter in a local municipality (non-metro) will also receive a District Council (DC) PR ballot paper. All political parties registered to contest the elections within DC area will appear on this ballot. The ballot will show the party name, logo and official abbreviation; no individual’s name will appear. Councilors will be elected to the District Council in accordance with the prescribed procedures, based on the voting results and the party list.

11. How many different (unique) ballot papers are there for 2016 ME? Ward ballot papers

4 392

District Council ballot papers

44

Metro Council ballot papers

8

Local Council ballot papers

205

Total

4 649

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12. How many ballot papers will be printed for the 2016 Municipal Elections? Ballots are printed under stringent control, in books of strictly 100 ballots. In total the Electoral Commission will print approximately 74 million ballot papers, to ensure the availability of sufficient ballots for every registered voter.

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Section 2: Voters 1. How many voters are registered for the 2016 Municipal Elections and how does this compare to previous Municipal Elections? There are a total of 26 333 353 voters on the voters’ roll for 2016 ME

Province Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape Total

2000 Voters' roll 2,531,273 1,225,620 4,373,977 3,501,113 1,756,799 1,419,168 1,261,732 451,380 1,955,454 18,476,516

2006 Voters' roll

2011 Voters' roll

2,908,106 1,318,408 4,785,955 3,964,817 2,146,048 1,546,731 1,554,864 528,657 2,301,371 21,054,957

2016 Voters' roll

3,111,535 1,386,521 5,592,676 4,648,733 2,341,498 1,718,309 1,576,898 572,140 2,706,736 23,655,046

3,337,532 1,470,999 6,234,822 5,411,237 2,556,128 1,919,216 1,715,460 621,310 3,066,649 26,333,353

% Increase in registered voters from 2000 31.85% 20.02% 42.54% 54.56% 45.50% 35.24% 35.96% 37.65% 56.83% 42.52%

2. What percentage of potential voters is this? Approximately 77% of all voting age citizen are currently registered as voters based on population estimates provided by StatsSA. Province

Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape

VAP May 2016 SA Certified Voters' Percentage of Reg citizens 1 Roll to VAP (31 May 2016) 82.0% 4,069,994 3,337,532 80.7% 1,823,128 1,470,999 71.9% 8,667,128 6,234,822 83.6% 6,474,248 5,411,237 78.2% 3,270,756 2,556,128 73.5% 2,612,007 1,919,216 74.4% 2,305,823 1,715,460 79.5% 781,716 621,310 74.0% 4,143,523 3,066,649 34,148,322 26,333,353 77.1%

3. What is the age and gender breakdown of voters? Approximately 48% of all voters are aged under 40 years old (12.7 million) and approximately 55% are women.

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Age Band >=18 =20 =30 =40 =50 =60 =70 =80 Total

Female 278,272 3,122,802 3,373,081 2,799,636 2,246,966 1,430,877 769,866 444,396 14,465,896

Male 228,289 2,653,797 3,062,254 2,468,351 1,782,626 1,055,687 450,258 166,195 11,867,457

Total 506,561 5,776,599 6,435,335 5,267,987 4,029,592 2,486,564 1,220,124 610,591 26,333,353

% 1.92% 21.94% 24.44% 20.00% 15.30% 9.44% 4.63% 2.32%

4. What is the provincial distribution of voters for 2016 ME? Gauteng has the highest number of voters with 6.2 million certified voters followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 5.4 million, the Eastern Cape with 3.3 million and the Western Cape with 3 million. Approximately 69% of all voters are located in these four provinces.

Province Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North West Northern Cape Western Cape Total

Female % of Prov Total 1,908,575 57.19% 809,121 55.00% 3,215,834 51.58% 3,052,876 56.42% 1,521,360 59.52% 1,047,802 54.60% 900,655 52.50% 332,780 53.56% 1,676,893 54.68% 14,465,896 54.93%

Male % of Prov Total 1,428,957 42.81% 661,878 45.00% 3,018,988 48.42% 2,358,361 43.58% 1,034,768 40.48% 871,414 45.40% 814,805 47.50% 288,530 46.44% 1,389,756 45.32% 11,867,457 45.07%

Prov Total % of Total 3,337,532 12.67% 1,470,999 5.59% 6,234,822 23.68% 5,411,237 20.55% 2,556,128 9.71% 1,919,216 7.29% 1,715,460 6.51% 621,310 2.36% 3,066,649 11.65% 26,333,353

5. How many voting stations are there and how does this compare with previous municipal elections? Election

Number of VDs

Percentage increase

2000

14 988

0

2006

18 873

25%

2011

20 859

11%

2016

22 612

8.4%

6. When will the elections take place? The 2016 Municipal Elections will take place on Wednesday 3 August 2016. Page 9 of 15

7. What are the voting hours? Voting stations will be open from 07H00 to 19H00. 8. Will voters be turned away after 7pm? All voters who are present and in the queue to vote at a voting station at 19h00 will be allowed to vote no matter how long this takes. 9. Why have voting hours been shorted compared to national elections? Voter participation data from previous elections shows that fewer than 1 percent of voters cast their ballots after 19H00. For this reason voting hours for municipal elections have traditionally been 7am to 7pm. Note that any voter who is in the queue at 7pm will be allowed to vote – no matter how long it takes. It should also be remembered that the number of voting stations has increased significantly over the years (the number has increased by 50 percent since 2000) and additional voting streams have been added to the busiest voting stations to significantly reduce the time it takes to vote. 10. What documents do voters need to vote? Voters must be in possession of a valid official South African ID document namely either: 

A green barcoded ID book or



A smartcard ID or



A valid Temporary Identity Certificate

Voters who were given a separate receipt of registration when they registered (i.e. those with smartcard IDs) should also bring this receipt with them. 11. Where can you vote? In a municipal election you can only vote in the specific Voting District where you are registered.

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12. I can’t remember where I am registered as a voter. How can I check? To check your voting station voters can: 

SMS their ID number to 32810 (cost R1) to receive confirmation of their voter registration details including the name of their voting station



Dial *120*432# and follow the prompts



Check registration details on our website (elections.org.za)



Call 0800 11 8000 weekdays between 7am and 9pm



IEC mobile application

13. What is the process for voting? A. The barcode in your ID will be scanned to ascertain if you are registered at the relevant voting station and to ascertain your sequential number on the voters roll B. Your name and ID will be checked against the voters’ roll for that voting district C. Your name and ID will be crossed off the voters’ roll D. Your left thumb will be marked with indelible ink E. You will be given 2 (in a metro) or 3 (in local municipalities) ballot papers F. Your ballots will be stamped on the reverse side by the voting station official to validate them G. You will mark your ballot papers in the privacy of the voting booth, fold them, and place them in ballot boxes

14. What happens if you make a mistake on your ballot paper or change your mind before depositing the ballot paper in the ballot box? The law allows a voter to request a new ballot paper if they have made a mistake or change their mind after making their mark on the ballot paper – but before they place it in the ballot box. Voters should call for the assistance of an election official in such cases who will provide a new unmarked ballot paper – and will ensure the incorrect ballot is not placed in the ballot box. These incorrect marked ballots are cancelled kept

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separately as part of the reconciliation process to ensure the integrity of the voting process. A voter may not request a new ballot more than two times. 15. What happens if your name doesn’t appear on the voters’ roll but you have proof you registered in the voting district? If a voter’s name is not on the voters’ roll for the voting district where they applied to register to vote and they have a barcode sticker in their identity document that was provided to them by the IEC when they applied to register to vote and that proves that they applied to register for that voting district, they will be allowed to vote. Voters will be asked to fill in an MEC 7 form and will then vote normally. In this instance, voters may still only vote in the voting district where they applied to register and not in another voting district. Also note that proof of application for registration is limited to the sticker granted when applying to register to vote. A print out of a website page, SMS message, etc. does not constitute proof of application for registration in the case of a MEC 7 vote. 16. What does the law say about wearing of party political clothing in a voting station? Electoral laws prohibit party agents or candidates from wearing any political party affiliated clothing or regalia inside a voting station on Election Day. BUT the electoral laws DO NOT PROHIBIT ordinary voters from wearing political party clothing or regalia. Voters may wear whatever clothing they choose.

SPECIAL VOTES 17. What are special votes? A special vote allows a registered voter, who can't vote at their voting station on Election Day, to apply to vote on a predetermined day before election day. Special voting days allocated for the 2016 Municipal Elections are 1 and 2 August 2016 – the two days before Election Day on 3 August 2016.

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If you are away from your voting district from 1 to 3 August 2016, then unfortunately you forfeit your vote in the 2016 Municipal Elections. Also note that voting abroad is only possible in national elections, and not in municipal elections. 18. Who qualifies for a special vote? Any registered voter can apply for a special vote if they: 

Can’t travel to their voting station because of physically infirmity, disability or pregnancy; or



Can’t vote at their voting station on election day, but can do so on the predetermined special voting days.

19. How do you apply for a special vote? Applications for special votes for the 2016 Municipal Elections will open on Friday 10 June 2016 and close on Friday 8 July 2016.05.26 You can apply for a special vote: 

Online at www.elections.org.za (application link will only go live on Friday 10 June 2016)



Via SMS by texting your identity number to 32249 (Note this is for voting station special votes only – not for home visits)



At your local IEC office by submitting a MEC35 form. Forms can only be hand-delivered, but someone else can deliver your completed form on your behalf



Via the Official IEC Election application.

You will receive an SMS notifying you of the outcome once your application has been processed, but you can also check the status of your special vote application online at www.elections.org. 20. When does special voting take place? Special voting days allocated for the 2016 Municipal Elections are 1 and 2 August 2016 – the two days before Election Day.

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21. Where do I cast a special vote? If you can’t travel to the voting station because you are physically infirm, disabled or pregnant, voting officials will visit you on Monday 1 August 2016 or Tuesday 2 August 2016 at the place where you live (must be within the voting district where you're registered) and allow you to vote. Election officials will confirm the date and the time of the visit with you beforehand. If you are not pregnant, infirm or disabled you must vote at the voting station where you are registered on Monday 1 August 2016 or Tuesday 2 August 2016. Voting stations will be open from 8am to 5pm for special voting (NOT from 7am to 7pm as is the case on Election Day).

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Section 3: CODE OF CONDUCT 1. Who is bound by the Code of Conduct? Every political party and candidate is bound by the Code and must comply with it. Party leaders are also required to instruct all party members, supports and officials to abide by the Code. The Code also requires that all parties and candidates promote and publicise the Code. 2. What conduct is not allowed under the Code? The Code covers a range of conduct which is not allowed including: 

Using language which provokes violence



Intimidating voters or other candidates



Publishing false information about other candidates or parties



Offering an inducement or reward to vote for a party or candidate



Destroying or defacing posters or other campaign material



Preventing access to voters or areas

3. What are the penalties for non-compliance? Political parties and candidates can: 

Be fined up to R200 000



Forfeit their election deposits



Be prohibited from campaigning in an area



Have their votes reduced



Be disqualified

They also face prison sentences for criminal offences. 4. What do you do if you suspect a party or candidate has broken the law? The Electoral Court has the jurisdiction over the Code of Conduct. If you believe a candidate or party has breached the Code of Conduct you should contact the Electoral on 015 412 7400 to report the matter. You can also report alleged criminal activities to your nearest police station. Page 15 of 15