ELECTION OF MUNICIPAL OFFICE-BEARERS

Once the elections are over, the newly elected councillors must meet to elect various office-bearers. Depending on the type of governance that a council has (see "Types of municipalites"), they may have to elect speakers, executive mayors or mayors.

A new position - that of Speaker - has been set up. The motivation for having a Speaker is to separate the position of Mayor from that of the Chair of the Council in larger councils. This separation will ensure that mayors are held properly accountable to their councils, as they will have to conduct themselves through the Speaker at council meetings. This is important where there are Executive Mayors, who will have considerable powers.

However, a Speaker is not necessary in councils where decisions are taken by plenary meetings or through collective decision-making. In these types of councils, the mayor will preside over council meetings.

The Speaker will be elected at the first council meeting. His or her election will be presided over by the Municipal Manager (formally known as the CEO) or a person nominated by the MEC for local government.

PROCEDURE FOR ELECTING MUNICIPAL OFFICE-BEARERS

The following procedure applies to the election of all municipal office-bearers:

• Nominations must be made on an official form. Each nomination must be proposed and seconded, and the nominee must accept his or her nomination.
• The chairperson announces the nominees but allows no debate about candidates.
• If there is only one candidate, that person will be elected unopposed. If there is more than one nomination, councillors will vote for the candidate of their choice by secret ballot.
• If two candidates receive an equal number of seats, the candidate with the lowest votes should be eliminated and a fresh election held. If only two candidates are nominated or only two remain after elimination, and those candidates get an equal number of votes, a further election must be held within seven days. The process will then start all over again.

Secret ballot

Voting by secret ballot is already the norm in most municipalities. As one councillor explained: "We use secret ballot because you are electing a person not because he or she is popular, but you are looking at their experience and ability to do a job."

Introduction | The first democratic municipal elections | The proportional representation and ward systems: working together | Voting in metropolitan areas | Voting outside of metropolitan areas | "Mixed" electoral system replaces the "parallel" system | Delimitation | The candidates | Uncontested elections | By-elections | Election of municipal office-bearers | Administration of municipal, provincial and national elections | What will happen in 2000-01? | Conclusion

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