Johannesburg – The Independent Electoral Commission says it is ready for the by-elections taking place in 22 wards in eight provinces on Wednesday.

“So far so good, we’re getting ready for by-elections,” IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said on Tuesday.

“It’s quite a big group of by-elections… it’s quite a process.”

She said the IEC was not expecting any difficulties at any of the polling stations.

Eastern Cape

In the Eastern Cape four by-elections would be held after the councillors died.

Ward five and nine in Humansdorp would be contested by the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance.

Ward five was previously represented by the DA which won 55.72% of the vote in the 2011 local government elections, while ward nine was previously represented by the ANC which won 64.95%.

Ward two in Butterworth would be contested by the ANC, the DA, the Pan Africanist Congress, and the United Democratic Movement. The ward was previously held by the ANC, which won with 49.07% in 2011.

Ward 13 in Alice, which was being contested by the ANC and PAC, was previously held by the ANC, which won the ward with an overwhelming majority of 95.97%.

Free State, Gauteng

In the Free State, ward eight in Bothaville was uncontested, with the ANC’s Pini Ruth Ramaele the only candidate. The party’s previous councillor died.

Two by-elections would take place in Gauteng.

Ward 96 in Ekurhuleni was being contested by an independent candidate, the African Christian Democratic Party, the ANC, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the National Freedom Party, and the PAC. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which won it in 2011 with 83.08%, but became vacant when the councillor resigned.

Ward 12 in Vereeniging would be contested by the ANC and the PAC.

The previous ANC councillor died. The party won the ward in 2011 with 87.33% of the vote.

KZN

Five by-elections would be held in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ward 70 in Durban, which used to be represented by the Minority Front, was being contested again by the party, the ACDP, the ANC, the Congress of the People, the DA, and the IFP.

The Minority Front won the ward in 2011 with 43.75% with the DA coming in second with 33.48%.

Ward eight in Ladysmith would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, the National Democratic Convention, and the NFP. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which won with 69% in 2011, but became vacant when the councillor died.

Ward two in Bergville would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The previous NFP councillor resigned. The party won the ward in 2011 with 39.29% beating the ANC by 1.9%.

Ward three in Dundee would be contested by an independent candidate, the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The ANC had previously won the ward with 51.05% but its councillor died.

Ward 14 in KwaMbonambi would be contested by the ANC, the IFP, and the NFP. The ward was previously represented by the ANC, which had 83.92% in 2011, but the councillor resigned.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga

In Limpopo, ward eight in the Modimolle municipality would be contested by the DA and the Freedom Front Plus. The ward was represented by the DA and became vacant when the councillor died.

The DA had received 63.18% of the vote in 2011 while the FF Plus received 5.17%.

Five by-elections would take place in Mpumalanga.

Ward 16 in Piet Retief would be contested by the ANC and the NFP. The ANC received 76.84% of the vote in 2011. The ward became vacant after the ANC councillor resigned.

Ward 22 in Emalahleni would be contested by the ANC and the DA. This was after the DA councillor resigned. The DA won the ward in 2011 with 55.49%.

Ward six in Sabie would be contested by two independent candidates and the ANC. The ward was previously held by the ANC, which won with an overwhelming 94.42%, but the councillor resigned.

Wards 21 and 34 in Mbombela would be contested by an independent candidate, the ANC, and the PAC.

Both wards became vacant when the previous ANC councillors resigned. The ANC won ward 21 with 95.17% and ward 34 with 94.04% of the vote.

North West, Northern Cape

Two by-elections would be held in the North West.

Ward one in Koster was uncontested, with Canney Thabo Jacobs of the ANC the only candidate. The previous ANC candidate resigned.

Ward six in Lichtenburg would be contested by the ANC, the DA, and the FF Plus. The ward was represented by the DA, which won with 73.54% of the vote in 2011, but the councillor died.

Two by-elections would be held in the Northern Cape.

Ward nine in Kimberley would be contested by the ANC and the PAC. This was after the ANC councillor died. The ANC won the ward in 2011 with 83.44%.

Ward four in Kathu would be contested by the ANC and the DA. The ANC won the ward with 53.36% in 2011. However, the councillor died.

– SAPA