By Gcina Ntsaluba
Makana Municipality is set to lose a ward and a proportional representation (PR) council seat due to insufficient voter registration numbers, officials revealed during a public meeting with the Municipal Demarcation Board yesterday.
The meeting, attended by various political parties, nongovernmental organisations, and community stakeholders, highlighted the critical impact of voter registration on municipal representation and funding.
According to the municipality’s speaker, Mabhuti Matyumza, registered voters had increased marginally from 42 000 to approximately 44 000 in recent years, despite the municipality’s population growing from about 80 000 to an estimated 120 000 during the same period.
“We have lost a seat as a municipality,” the speaker explained, noting that the council has dropped from 28 seats to 27 and will further decrease to 25 in the upcoming demarcation. We have also lost a PR.”
The speaker emphasised that reducing council seats is directly linked to low voter registration rates, describing the community as “lazy to register people to vote.” This reduction affects political representation and the municipality’s equitable share of national revenue.
“It affects the equitable share in terms of the population ratio and the division of revenue,” the speaker said. “It makes the municipality suffer and receive the lowest ever grant that is supposed to come through the DORA [Division of Revenue Act].”
In response, the municipality plans to launch a public education campaign to encourage voter registration before the 2026 local government elections.
A representative from the Municipal Demarcation Board, Ntombi Baart, explained that their processes are legislated through the Municipal Structures Act, emphasising that ward determinations are based on registered voters rather than population statistics.
“This is a voter’s roll,” the board member stated. “The number of wards is affected by the number of registered voters. That’s what legislation requires us to do.”
The meeting was part of the board’s ward delimitation process in preparation for the 2026 local government elections. The board presented draft proposals for new ward boundaries, with community members invited to provide input on the plans.
No final decisions were made during the meeting, with the board member noting they were there primarily to listen to community concerns and proposals regarding the draft ward boundaries.
The Municipal Demarcation Board is a Chapter 7 institution that reports to Parliament through the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). It is responsible for determining municipal boundaries and wards throughout South Africa.
Community members were encouraged to register to vote regardless of political affiliation to ensure better representation and improved service delivery for the municipality.
“People should not maintain to be spectators of their democracy,” the speaker concluded. “We’re not talking about whom you’re going to vote for, but we’re talking about your right to participate in a democracy.”
