DA wants ward committee declared null & void

Democratic Alliance press statement by

Andrew Louw MPL

DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader

DA wants ward committee declared null & void

19 April 2017

Release: immediate

The DA today lodged a formal objection with the Speaker of Sol Plaatje municipality,

Elizabeth Johnson, regarding the municipality’s failure to facilitate a free and fair ward

committee election for Ward 1 at Harvest Time Hall in Roodepan last night.

This comes after predetermined lists of ward candidates, who had been handpicked by the

ANC, were circulated amongst community members. These lists in turn inhibited free and

fair voting processes and also resulted in a manipulated outcome that ultimately saw the

final results overlap 100% with the circulated lists.

DA ward Councillor, Bernadette Francis, made her objections known to the electoral officer,

who was also given a copy of the predetermined list. The crowd was volatile and she did not

further pursue the matter at the time in order to preserve the peace.

The DA has urged the municipality to declare the election null and void and to initiate

proceedings for the new election of a ward committee for ward 1.

The DA is monitoring the establishment of all ward committee elections in Kimberley to

ensure that Sol Plaatje’s policy on ward committees is not flouted. This is not the first nor

the last objection letter to be lodged by DA councillors.

Every election, whether on a national, provincial, municipal and even ward level, must be

protected in order to protect our hard won democracy from being overthrown by lawless

thugs.

Media Enquiries:

Andrew Louw

DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader

082 383 6914

Shelley De Witt

Researcher

082 847 1387