The IEC in KwaZulu-Natal says registration for special votes for the upcoming municipal by-elections in the province opens on Monday. The by-elections are expected to take place in four wards in three municipalities in the province.
This after councillors in eThewkini and kwaNongoma were murdered just before the Local Government Elections last year.
Acting Electoral Officer in KwaZulu-Natal, Ntombifuthi Masinga says, “The By-elections will take place in 4 wards across three municipalities in the province including eThewkini, Ukhahlamba in Bergville and kwaNongoma municipalities. All these councillors except in Bergville were actually murdered before they could even assume their seats as councillors in their municipalities, so as a result that caused a vacancy in their municipality and the municipal managers have since declared those vacancies in the electoral commission.”
Masinga says security has been tightened in these municipalities to ensure the safety of voters, candidates and IEC officials at voting stations.
“In terms of security given that at least in two of these municipalities eThekwini and kwaNongoma the candidates were actually murdered before the day of the general elections so we are conscious of that, so we putting all the necessary tools in place to make sure that security is tightened and people feel safe to leave their homes and go to voting stations on the second.”
