Statement by acting President Kgalema Motlanthe on the Local Government Election date

As we are all aware the term of our municipal councils will be ending soon.  In terms of the Local Government:  Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117) "the term of municipal councils is five years, calculated from the day following the date set for the previous election of all municipal councils".

After consultation with the Electoral Commission, government has set the date for the Local Government Elections as 18 May 2011.

The Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will in the next week in terms of section 24(2) of the Act, formally proclaim the election date by publishing a notice in the Government Gazette.

We have decided to announce the election date now to give the Electoral Commission more certainty and time to prepare for the elections.

Once the election date is gazetted next week, the municipal segment of the voters roll will close.  This means eligible voters have the last opportunity from today until the proclamation of the election date is published in the Government Gazette to ensure that their names appear correctly on the voters roll.

I therefore call upon all South Africans to make full use of the last voter registration weekend of 5-6 March 2011 set by the IEC to ensure that their names appear correctly on the voters roll.

Statement issued by The Presidency, March 3 2011

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