DPLG

THE CANDIDATES

WARD CANDIDATES (ELECTED BY FIRST-PAST-THE-POST)

Any registered voter in a ward may stand as a candidate. Candidates standing in wards can represent political parties or be independent of any political party. Ward candidates will be encouraged to draw up election manifestos, and the South African Local Government Association (Salga) will help them to do so.

If a candidate is elected, his or her manifesto can almost act as a "contract" between him or her and the communities that have elected him or her. Voters will be able to remind councillors of their promises during the elections and have the right to demand that councillors do their best to deliver their promises.

INDEPENDENT OR OPPORTUNIST?

The question of whether independent ward candidates are truly independent is very important if the vote quota and seat allocation formulae are to be accurate.

In the previous elections, some independent ward candidates hid their political affiliations in the hope that they would attract more votes.

This will not be possible in the 2000-01 elections. The Municipal Structures Act says all candidates must tell their municipal electoral officers if they are aligned to any political party. The political parties must also own up if they plan to help or support any ward candidate. Even if an "independent" does not own up to party links, the electoral officer may announce publicly any political affiliations at any time during the election campaign.

Crossing the floor is also not allowed. If a councillor "crosses the floor", or changes from one party to another, that person loses his or her seat. This does not only apply to proportional representation councillors who are elected from party lists. Ward councillors, who contest elections under the banner of a political party, and then resign from the party after they are elected, will lose their seat. Independents who join a party after their election also lose their seat. This is to ensure that ward candidates who change political parties must contest a new ward election and go back to their constituency for a new mandate.

PARTY CANDIDATES (ELECTED BY PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION)

Not all citizens live in municipalities big enough to have wards. However, every eligible voter - whether in a large metropolitan area or a remote rural area - will be able to vote for the party of their choice to represent them at local level. Registered political parties and organisations that have more than one office-bearer and an office or address in the municipality concerned can contest municipal elections.

Each political party has to submit a list of names in order of party preference, starting with the best candidates. The list must not be longer than double the total number of seats available. Parties may change their lists at any time provided they tell the chief electoral officer for the area. If one proportional representation councillor resigns, the next person on his/her party list takes his/her place.

WOMEN CANDIDATES

According to the Municipal Structures Act: "Every party must seek to ensure that 50% of the candidates on the party list are women and that women and men candidates are evenly distributed through the list."

Some gender advocates worry that this is too weak, as it is voluntary and thus parties cannot be compelled to comply with the proposal.

In any case, special provisions to ensure that women are able to compete on an equal footing with men are not meant to be permanent. After a while, it should become natural for women and men to be considered equally.

Women play a crucial role at local level, particularly in rural areas where the majority of the population is female. Women head many urban households, and, according to the 1996 Census, women generally take primary care of children. Thus, these measures to ensure that women are better represented at local level will serve to give a voice to those who make up the backbone of many communities.

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