THE Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) has started the two-month public consultation process for ward delimitation across the country following the determination of the number of councillors in each of the 213 metropolitan and local municipalities.

The MDB started public consultations last Thursday in the Eastern Cape after the nine MECs responsible for local government determined the number of councillors using the formula published by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa.

The board then takes over and calculates the number of wards in each municipality, with the number of wards equal to the number of ward councillors in a metropolitan or local council. District municipalities, there are currently 44, do not have ward councillors.

In cases where the number of councillors is an uneven number, the fraction must be rounded off upwards in favour of wards to ensure that a municipality has more ward councillors than proportional representation councillors.

The number of councillors can neither be increased nor decreased by the MDB or a municipality.

The MDB’s delimitation process involves the division of the whole geographic area of a municipality into smaller geographic areas (wards).

Thabo Manyoni, MDB chairperson, has indicated that he expects the public consultation process to continue until the end of June.

The board is expected to hand over the final wards to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) in October, ahead of next year’s local government polls.

The MDB concludes the ward delimitation process by handing over the final ward maps to the IEC.

”Due to limited resources and the need for the MDB to finalise this process on time to allow the IEC time to prepare for elections, no extra meetings will be accepted,” Manyoni stated.

At the conclusion of the formal public consultation process, the MDB will start with the formal delimitation of wards and their publication in the provincial gazettes for objections and allow for a 14-day period for objections. Manyoni assured members of the public that all objections will be considered.

The MDB has recommended that local consultative processes be driven by municipalities working with ward committees, community development workers, community organisations as well as other interested and affected parties.

According to Manyoni, the MDB will have to rely on the assistance and cooperation of municipalities for a successful public consultation process and requested them to urgently assist the board by providing suitable venues including chairs, tables, a public address system, a roving microphone and a screen for presentations on particular dates.

Municipalities are also expected to invite stakeholders and residents to attend the consultative meetings and arrange with the local police to monitor security but will not prescribe to them who should be invited, except to indicate that it would appreciate the presence of a wide range of community representatives.

The MDB said that due to financial constraints, it will not be able to cover any catering costs during the consultative process and does not expect host municipalities to provide any food or beverages except for water, where possible.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za