Describe how elections to the Municipal council take place
Answers
Explanation:
This page provides guidelines to independent and party candidates wishing to contest municipal elections.
This page does not replace or obviate the legal requirements that must be met by candidates.
Municipal councils
The term of municipal councils is 5 years.
There are 3 types of Municipal Councils in South Africa:
Category A: 8 Metropolitan Councils;
Category B: 205 Local Councils (LC); and
Category C: 44 District Councils (DC) (have executive and legislative powers in areas that include local municipalities)
Types of municipal elections
Elections are contested in every municipality but the type of election is determined by the category of that municipality.
For metropolitan municipalities, there are 2 types of elections in each ward:
Metropolitan council ward, and
Metropolitan proportional representation.
In all local municipalities other than metropolitan municipalities, there are 3 types of elections in each ward:
Local council ward;
Local council proportional representation; and
District council proportional representation.
Contesting municipal elections
Independent and party ward candidates can contest:
a metropolitan council ward
or
a local council ward.
Registered parties can contest:
the metropolitan council proportional representation elections
or
the local council and district council proportional representation elections.
Membership of Municipal Councils
Every citizen who is qualified to vote for a municipal council is eligible to stand and to be elected as a member of that council, unless that person:
is in the service of that municipality and receives remuneration from that municipality and has not been exempted from disqualification in terms of national legislation;
is appointed by, or is in the service of the state in another sphere and receives remuneration for that appointment and has been disqualified from membership of a Municipal Council in terms of national legislation;
is disqualified from voting for the National Assembly;
has been declared an unrehabilitated insolvent;
has been declared to be of unsound mind by a court of the Republic;
is convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than twelve 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine either in the Republic , or outside of the Republic if the conduct constituting the offence would have been an offence in the Republic and a period of 5 years has not elapsed since the sentence was completed;
is a member of the National Assembly, a delegate to the National Council of Provinces or a member of the provincial legislature, unless that person is a member of the municipal council representing local government in the National Council; or
is a member of another Municipal Council other than a Municipal Council representing that Council in a Municipal Council of a different category.
Deadlines
Once the election date has been proclaimed, the Electoral Commission (IEC) publishes an election timetable with deadlines that candidates and parties must meet.