Archive post. Issued by SAMNET on 17 April 2025, in the run-up to the 2026 local government elections. Published here as part of SAMNET’s advocacy archive; the arithmetic it sets out holds for any ward, in any cycle.

Small numbers can have a big impact.

The April 2025 by-election in Ward 110 — Mount Moriah and Sunningdale, Durban North — was decided by 22 votes.

Do the arithmetic

  • The ward has over 18 000 registered voters.
  • Just over 6 200 of them voted — about 35%.
  • The winning party took 38.92% of those votes.

Which means fewer than 2 500 votes determined who represents more than 18 000 registered voters across Mount Moriah, Mount Royal, Rainham, Sunningdale, Glen Anil and part of Glen Hills.

What it takes to win a ward

Put the other way around: a block of 2 500 votes wins an entire ward. That is roughly 600 households of four voters each — a mother, a father, one adult child and a grandparent.

That is not a hypothetical organising target. That is a mosque, a school community, a residents’ association.

Know your councillor, choose your councillor

With less than twelve months to the local government election, communities need to organise and take the time to decide who would best represent them and improve the areas they live in.

Rather than waiting for parties to field candidates and then choosing between them, communities should be determining in advance who they are entrusting their vote to — and who they will hold accountable afterwards.

Close results will be contested. That is not a failure of the process; that is representation in action.

Act

Related

Prepare and Participate in the Municipal By-Elections · Urgent Call to Register for the By-Elections

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of increased voter registration and participation in the electoral process.