THE Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says over 12 000 candidates will be contesting 844 council seats in the upcoming local government elections (LGE) in the Western Cape.
The provincial statistics released by the IEC showed that the number of independent candidates standing in the poll had almost doubled compared to the last two municipal elections.
Provincial electoral officer Michael Hendrickse said in a statement that more than 12 400 candidates would contest the local government elections in the province.
“This is a significant increase to contestation, in relation to the 7 263 of LGE 2016,” Hendrickse said.
He said there was also an increase in the number of political parties contesting the elections.
There were 96 parties in this round of elections.
The number had increased from 77 recorded in 2016, and 62 in 2011.
In the City of Cape Town, there are 53 political parties that will contest for council seats.
This is up from the 37 parties that were in the election race in the 2016 municipal elections, and 33 in the 2011 local government elections.
There were 85 independent candidates who will be contesting the elections in the Western Cape, with at least 41 being found in the City of Cape Town.
In the 2016 elections, 59 independents stood for the elections, while 70 vied for council seats 10 years ago.
The city had seen an increase from 12 independents five years ago and the 14 that was recorded a decade ago.
“The contestation for 844 seats across 30 municipalities consisting of one metro, 24 local, and five district municipalities, is gaining momentum,” Hendrickse said.
He also said a total of 904 candidates who will participate in this year’s elections were under the age of 30.
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za
Political Bureau