Water crisis dominates South African municipal elections
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day (South Africa)
The water crisis has become a central issue in South Africa’s municipal elections, as voters went to the polls to renew control of the country’s 257 municipalities. Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille promised to mobilise resources quickly to address shortages, according to Business Day.
South African voters went to the polls on Wednesday to renew the councils of the country’s 257 municipalities, amid persistent water shortages, ageing infrastructure and failures in the management of local services, Business Day reports. The water crisis emerged as one of the main campaign issues in several regions.
In Johannesburg, Helen Zille, the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate, promised to mobilise emergency resources to address supply problems if elected. In Cape Town, Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder referred to strong turnout and called on voters to use their ballots to bring about change. Herman Mashaba, ActionSA’s candidate in Johannesburg and a former mayor of the city, said he had already selected 10 members of his executive so they could begin governing immediately in the event of victory.
The general poll followed the special vote held on 2 and 3 November, in which 1.4 million voters took part, according to figures reported by Business Day. Material problems disrupted the special vote, while 33 polling stations in the Western Cape were classified as high risk. These stages preceded the municipal vote on 4 November, when voters were called on to choose their local representatives.
