JOBURG ADVOCACY GROUP

(JAG)
Working for best practice governance in the City of Johannesburg

2011 Local Government Election

Report

22 May 2011
11:50

Introduction

On 21 May at 18:00, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced the results of South
Africa’s eighth democratic election, the 2011 Local Government Election (LGE).

The election was declared free and fair, and congratulations are due to the IEC’s Chair, Dr Brigalia
Bam and her team, who handled the electoral process impeccably.

Results and Analysis

1
In summary, the results of the election are as follows:

Total number of eligible voters: 23.6 million (23 655 046)

Gauteng is the province with the highest number of registered voters: 6.4 million (6 424 412;
27.1% of the national total).

Voter turnout: 57.6% (13.6 million)

This is the highest voter turnout for a local government election to date, up from 48.4% in the
last local government election.

1
IEC Results Summary: http://www.elections.org.za/content/LGEPublicReports/197/Detailed%20Results/National.pdf

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Total votes cast: 35 235 914
The total number of votes cast reflects the fact that voters were required to vote for ward,
proportional representation and, where appropriate, district councillors, and so had to submit
more than one ballot paper.

Percentage of total votes cast, by political party or grouping:

ANC (African National Congress): 63.65%
DA (Democratic Alliance): 21.97%
IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party): 3.94%
NFP (National Freedom Party): 2.58%
COPE (Congress of the People): 2.33%
Independents: 0.87%
UDM (United Democratic Movement): 0.68%
ACDP (African Christian Democratic Party): 0.61%
FF+ (Freedom Front Plus): 0.44%
PAC (Pan Africanist Congress): 0.43%
Other parties: 2.50%

Nationally, support for the ANC has dropped by 2.7% since the last local government election (from
66.35% of the votes cast in 2006 to 63.65% of the votes cast in 2011), and support for the DA has
increased by 7.2% (from 14.77% of the votes cast in 2006 to 21.97% of the votes cast in 2011).

Council seats (major parties and groupings):

ANC: 5 633
DA: 1 555
IFP: 352
COPE: 236
NFP: 224
Independents: 140
UDM: 65
PAC: 40
ACDP: 40
FF+: 38

Councils: There are 278 municipal councils in South Africa. The two largest political parties will
govern in the majority of these, with the IFP and the breakaway NFP taking an outright majority in
seven:
ANC: 198 councils, including seven metropolitan municipalities (69.9%)
DA: 18 councils, including one metropolitan municipality (6.3%)
IFP: 5 councils

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 NFP: 2 councils

The outcome of discussions about forming coalitions in the remaining councils is currently unknown.

Analysis

While the ANC continues to dominate South Africa politics, real support for the party is down in eight
out of the nine provinces and, according to a report published on Times Live today, has been “almost
wiped out in minority communities”2

In contrast, the official opposition (DA) has gained considerable support, the only party to do so in this
election.

ANC losses may be due to: (a) a high level of dissatisfaction with service delivery in municipalities
around the country; (b) minority concerns over marginalisation in ANC-controlled councils; (c) racial
prejudice in some minority groups; and (d) the decision of some ANC supporters to stay away from
the polls in protest against poor service delivery.

The party’s high level of support may be due to (a) historical factors, such as the ANC’s role in the
struggle against apartheid; (b) a sense of loyalty to the party, especially amongst black voters; (c) the
large ideological gap between the ANC and the opposition DA, which makes even ANC voters who
are dissatisfied with the party’s performance reluctant to vote for the DA.

The DA’s gains may be due to: (a) the high level of dissatisfaction with service delivery in
municipalities around the country, and the perception amongst voters that the DA will deliver services
more efficiently; (b) the DA’s merger with the ID (Independent Democrats), which has brought many
ID voters to the DA; (c) racial prejudice in some minority groups; and (d) a well-orchestrated election
campaign, which emphasised successful service delivery in DA-run councils.

However, while the DA gained an outright majority in the Western Cape, the ANC remains in control
of the other eight provinces. In five - Free State, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and Northern
Cape - all wards went to the ANC. In the City of Cape Town, though, where the DA is already in
government, the party returned a result of 62% of the vote.

2
Major shake-up is on the cards for the ANC: http://www.timeslive.co.za/Politics/article1080066.ece/Major-shake-up-is-on-the-
cards-for-the-ANC

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Mayors Elect (Metros):

The Mayor Elect of the City of Cape Town is the DA’s Patricia de Lille, previously the leader of the ID.

The Mayors Elect of the remaining eight metropolitan councils are still to be confirmed, as the ANC
did not officially announce its mayoral candidates prior to the election. 3 The new mayor in the City of
Joburg is likely to be Councillor Parks Tau, currently the MMC (Member of the Mayoral Committee) for
Finance.

The ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) has expressed dissatisfaction with the gender imbalance
amongst the party’s candidates for mayor (which, at the time of writing, had not yet been officially
announced).

Spoilt votes:

In numeric terms, the number of spoilt votes recorded in this election (645 854) was 5.46% higher
than that recorded in the previous local government election (610 571). However, due to the increase
in the number of eligible voters since 2006, and therefore in the number of votes cast, the number of
spoilt votes is down in percentage terms to 1.90% of the total votes cast, compared to 2.27% in 2006.

The IEC does not differentiate between votes spoilt in error and those spoilt in protest, which makes
the use of the spoilt vote as an act of protest problematic.

The relatively low level of spoilt votes (which, as the IEC has indicated, includes votes spoilt in
protest) may indicate one, several or all of the following: (a) a high level of political, peer and media
pressure on voters not to exercise the spoilt vote option as a means of protest, despite high levels of
dissatisfaction with service delivery and governance at local government level; (b) a perception that
exercising the spoilt vote option is a betrayal of the country’s hard-won democracy, a position strongly
communicated by government, political parties, interest groups and the county’s media; (c) the
success of these influencers in communicating the spoilt vote option as a “wasted vote”; (d) resulting
reluctance amongst voters to use the spoilt vote option as a protest vote; (e) lack of understanding
about the option of using the spoilt vote as a means of protest; and (f) concern that spoilt votes only
serve to entrench ANC hegemony, especially since these are most likely to be exercised by non-ANC
supporters.

3
“ANC remains coy on mayoral candidates”: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=140151

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The City of Joburg

In the City of Joburg, the ANC is again the majority party and, as reported above, the current Finance
MMC, Parks Tau, is likely to be the next mayor. This is despite concerns about the state of the city’s
4
financial management, as reported in a recent edition of the Financial Mail and by the Northern
Federation of Ratepayers (NORFED)5.

A total number of 1 272 354 voters cast their votes in the metro, representing 63.29% of the city’s
2 010 121 registered voters, and 19.8% of the voters in Gauteng.

6
The percentage spilt of votes cast is as follows :

ANC: 58.56%
DA: 34.62%
IFP: 1.63%
COPE: 1.15%
Other parties and independents: 4.04%

The ANC’s percentage of the vote in the City of Joburg has slipped from 62% in the last election to
just below 60%, but it remains in control of the majority of the wards in the metro.

The split of wards (130) by party is as follows:

ANC: 85
DA: 44
IFP: 1

The allocation of council seats (260), including both ward councillors and proportional representation
(PR) councillors, is as follows:
ANC: 153
DA: 90
IFP: 4
COPE: 3
NFP: 2
ACDP: 1
APC (African People’s Convention): 1
Al Jama-Ah: 1
AZAPO (Azanian People’s Organisation):1
Operation Khanyisa Movement: 1

4
“SA’s financial hub in crisis”: http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx?id=140262
5
NORFED Shock Sheet, 9 May 2011: http://www.scribd.com/doc/55987841/NORFED-Shock-Sheet-9-May-2011
6
IEC Results Summary, City of Joburg:
http://www.elections.org.za/content/LGEPublicReports/197/Detailed%20Results/GP/JHB.pdf

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 PAC: 1
UDM: 1
FF+: 1

The percentage of spoilt votes recorded in the city was 1.25%

The role of the Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG)

As many residents have, since JAG’s inception in 2009, reported high levels of dissatisfaction with
service delivery, financial management, social justice and environmental management in the City of
Joburg, JAG has run a number of campaigns in an attempt to address these issues. The group, which
is an independent, voluntary and self-funded collective, has, amongst other campaigns, run an
intensive billing crisis campaign this year and, in the run-up to the local government election, a
campaign advocating for a system of direct democracy in South Africa, particularly at local
government level.

The results of the election, however, appear to indicate: (a) a high level of trust in the city’s ANC/DA
administration, despite its failings; (b) a low appetite amongst voters for using spoilt votes as a means
of protest against these failings; (c) a low desire amongst voters for a more participative, people-
centred democracy, which is perceived to be impractical and time-consuming for the average voter;
(d) a consequently low commitment to lobbying for system change at local government level; and (d)
no political will to implement the principles of direct democracy in either the ANC or the DA.

The founding members of JAG therefore feel there is no longer any valid purpose in running intensive
advocacy campaigns, as it is now up to the city’s residents to hold the local government they have
elected to account through the structures currently available to them.

JAG will, however, continue to fulfil its original monitoring, reporting and information dissemination
mission.

Resident access to local government:

Residents with complaints about billing, tariffs, service delivery, financial management, governance,
social justice and/or environmental issues may log their complaints about these with the city’s call
centre by dialling 011 375 5555 or by sending an e-mail to joburgconnect@joburg.org.za. Billing
queries can also be faxed to 011 358 3408. The city will issue residents with a reference number for
each complaint, and they should use these to follow up on their complaints.

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Should residents experience any difficulty in having their complaints resolved, these should be
referred to their ward councillors for follow-up and resolution.

A list of all new councillors will soon be available on the city’s web site at www.joburg.org.za. A list is
also available in JAG’s document archives: http://www.scribd.com/doc/57019787/New-Ward-
Councillors-in-the-City-of-Joburg. Call your councillor's party offices for individual contact details
(ANC: 011 834 5973 / DA: 011 242 8800).

All councillors are required to adhere to a defined code of conduct, available on the city’s web site:
http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1548&Itemid=131.

Councillors are also tasked with holding quarterly public meetings in order to report back to
constituents on the business of council. Residents are encouraged, both individually and through their
residents’ associations, to ensure that councillors conduct these meetings as required. In these
meetings, residents may ask for feedback on issues raised in council or may raise new issues. Any
other official business, such as annual budgets, may also be discussed.

Further, council meetings are open to the public, and residents are encouraged to attend these if they
would like to do so. Details of the schedule of council meetings are not usually published, but
residents can check the city’s web site or contact the call centre should they require further details.

Allegedly underperforming and/or corrupt councillors

Residents who wish to report allegedly underperforming or corrupt councillors will need to log a
complaint with the party that the councillor represents, which will initiate an internal investigation into
the councillor’s conduct. The relevant party contact details are as follows:

ANC: www.anc.org.za
Johannesburg office: 011 834 5973
DA: www.da.org.za
Regional office: 011 834 5973
gautengsouth@region.da.org.za
IFP: www.ifp.org.za

National Consumer Commission

Residents who are unable to have service delivery complaints addressed through either the city or
their ward councillor can escalate these to the National Consumer Commission.

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Contact details are as follows:

0860 266 786 (call centre)

0861 515 229 (fax)
ncc@thedti.gov.za

Public Protector

Residents who have complaints about governance in the city can address these to the office of the
Public Protector. The office of the Public Protector is a Chapter Nine institution, constituted in terms of
allowance made for such institutions in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Contact details are as follows:

www.pprotect.org
0800 11 20 40 (call centre)
086 575 3292 (fax)

JAG updates and reports

JAG updates and reports, as well as reports from associate organisations, will be posted from time to
time on the group’s web site at http://jag-sa.blogspot.com. We invite residents to use the information
contained in these to take action on their own behalf and on behalf of their communities.

Updates will also be posted on the Joburg Advocacy Group Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Joburg-Advocacy-Group/103790946366051) and
@JoburgAdvocacy on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/JoburgAdvocacy).

End.

Released by the Joburg Advocacy Group

jag-sa@telkomsa.net

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