City of Tshwane clarifies what transpired at council during the election of the new speaker

City of Tshwane City Manager, Mr Johann Mettler, convened a meeting of Council in terms of Section 36 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998), as amended, for the purpose of electing the Speaker of Council on Monday, 13 March 2023.

The City approached the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to assist in conducting the election of the Speaker and to, inter alia, ensure a free and fair outcome.

After first attempts were abandoned due to what appeared to be intimidation of IEC staff members, the City Manager convened a meeting with the Chief Whip and the whips of all political parties represented in Council to re-establish the ground rules and ensure discipline and order during the voting and counting process.

This meeting also resolved to start the process afresh and that voting and counting would take place in a secured space other than the Council Chamber itself.

This notwithstanding, several allegations were raised of potential intimidation to influence voter patterns and, ultimately, the outcome.

After the conclusion of the meeting, IEC staff members proceeded to formally facilitate the voting process in accordance with applicable legislation and rules and orders to ensure a free and fair election.

The presiding officer, who is also the Regional Supervisor of the IEC, presided over the election process that entailed the voting and counting of the ballot papers. Once the counting was done, the presiding officer informed the City Manager of the results and indicated that there were 69 ballots that were rejected, falling within the ambit of Section 61(1)(a) of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act, 2000 (Act 27 of 2000), as these ballots had numbers 1 to 69 written on them for one particular candidate, giving an indication to the party agent(s) present as to who may have voted for which particular candidate – thus implicitly revealing the identity of the voter and compromising the secrecy of the ballot.

This process, as indicated by the presiding officer, was accepted and the presiding officer duly announced the election results.

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