Home South African IEC registers another 32 new political parties ahead of local government elections

IEC registers another 32 new political parties ahead of local government elections

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FILE: Ayanda Ndamane/ African News Agency /ANA

Among the newbies registered between August and September are parties based in some of the country’s hotly-contested municipalities

THE Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has registered over two dozen new political parties in just over a month between August and September, ahead of the local government elections in November.

The 32 parties were registered between August 4 and September 16, according to the IEC’s general notice published in the Government Gazette on Tuesday.

All but four have registered to contest the municipal polls, while the others have enrolled to challenge for power nationally.

Some of the newly-registered political parties which are vying for power in the hotly-contested municipalities are the Mandela Bay Community Movement in the Eastern Cape, and the Metsimaholo Progressive People’s Forum in the Free State.

Metsimaholo is the municipality that voted for a mayor from the SA Communist Party after forming a coalition with the ANC, the Metsimaholo Community Association, the Forum for Service Delivery and the African Independent Congress in 2017.

Another new party is the Bushbuckridge Locals Movement, which has been registered to contest nationally.

Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga produced the Bushbuckridge Residents’ Association (BRA), now known as the Better Residents’ Association, and whose disgruntled members recently formed the SA Home Residents’ Association.

The BRA was formed by former ANC members in the area in 2011, and won seats in the Mpumalanga provincial legislature and the local municipality.

According to the IEC statistics, there are 1 181 political parties registered to contest elections at local government level, but not all of them will field candidates for the November 1 polls.

The deadline for the nomination of candidates to contest the municipal elections is 5pm on Tuesday in terms of the IEC’s amended election timetable, after the re-opening of the registration process.

The commission will publish the final list of candidates next Wednesday.

Political Bureau

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