MK Party risks losing outright majority at KZN municipality after double ward election wins
Andreas Gumede stood as the MK Party candidate for Wards 12 and 13 in the Johannes Pumani Phungula Local Municipality.
Thabiso Goba
Picture: AFP
AFP
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party is at risk of losing its outright majority at a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) municipality after one of its councillors was elected in two different wards.
Andreas Gumede stood as the MK Party candidate for Wards 12 and 13 in the Johannes Pumani Phungula Local Municipality.
He won both those wards, prompting a by-election in one of them.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) rules allow one person to contest more than one ward; however, they don’t allow one person to be a ward councillor in more than one ward.
The IEC said Gumede must choose which ward he wants to be a councillor of before it declares a vacancy and a by-election for the other.
The Johannes Pumani Phungula Local Municipality is one of three municipalities the MK Party won with an outright majority in KwaZulu-Natal.
However, the party has a one-seat majority, meaning that if it loses the by-election, it will also lose its majority in the municipality.