The Electoral Commission welcomes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of a return to Alert Level 1 which has opened the way for the resumption of some political activities including political gatherings of up to 100 people in an indoor venue and 250 people in an outdoor venue.
The relaxation of the restrictions paves the way for the holding of by-elections for municipal ward vacancies which arose over since the last by-election in early December. The outstanding by-elections scheduled to be held on 21 April and 19 May will help to “clear the decks” of vacancies ahead of the Local Government Elections scheduled for between 4 August and 1 November.
A total of 45 by-elections across 37 municipalities in all nine provinces are scheduled affecting 362 431 registered voters.