A number of party and independent candidates wanting to partake in the 2011 local municipal elections were notified of non-compliance, the Independent Electoral Commission said on Tuesday.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said in a statement that 1 914 candidates did not provide copies of their identity documents, 1 501 did not submit their acceptance of nomination and 198 did not provide their identity document numbers.
She said the candidates were notified of their non-compliance on Monday and they would have until Friday April 8 at 5pm to provide these details.
“The names of a number of candidates and nominators do not appear on the voters’ roll or on the required segment of the voters’ roll … These participants also have until April 8 at 5pm to provide the IEC with evidence to the contrary.”
Based on Monday’s figures, 55 684 candidates and 843 independents would take part in the municipal elections on May 18. However the figure was subject to change if the candidates did not hand in the necessary documents.
Bapela said if each candidate was compliant, the Eastern Cape would have a total of 7 562 candidates, 182 of whom were independents.
The Free State would have a total of 3 436 with 35 independents, Gauteng a total of 9 561 and 86 independents, KwaZulu-Natal would have 10 609 with 119 independents and Mpumalanga would have 4 448 with 53 independents.
The Northern Cape would have a total of 1 629 candidates with 30 independents, Limpopo a total of 6 971 with 182 independents, the North West would have 4 233 with 61 independents, and the Western Cape would have 7 235 candidates with 95 independents.
Of the 55 684 candidates, 37% were women and 63% were men, and a total of 121 parties had notified the IEC that they would take part in the elections, Bapela said.
In the Eastern Cape 28 parties would contest in the election, 18 would in the Free State, 35 in Gauteng, 28 in KwaZulu-Natal, 20 in Mpumalanga, 21 in Limpopo, 20 in the North West, 10 in the Northern Cape and 61 in the Western Cape.
In a statement, chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula said she was satisfied with the “organised manner in which most parties have submitted their lists”.
A few parties were late in arriving at the IEC offices on March 25 and they could not be added to the candidate lists.
“The submission of candidates’ lists is an important date on the election timetable and is seen as the start of the election period. The number of political parties and candidates who indicated their participation … demonstrates that these elections have generated a lot of interest and are important to our communities,” said Tlakula.
Parties who would contest in more than two provinces were invited by the IEC to make public pledges to abide by the Electoral Code of Conduct.
The signing ceremony would take place at Gallagher Convention Centre on Wednesday, April 13.
On Wednesday the IEC would also hold a draw to determine the order in which the names of the parties would appear on the ballot paper, Bapela said. — Sapa