Local government elections on May 18

South Africans will go to the polls on May 18 to vote for new municipal councillors in the local government elections

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe announced the date in a statement he released a short while ago.

“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”, said Motlanthe.

He said Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka will proclaim the election date in the Government Gazette next week as required by law.

“We have decided to announce the election date now to give the electoral commission more certainty and time to prepare for the elections,” Motlanthe said.

“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.”

The IEC will this weekend be conducting the last voter registration drive to allow new voters and people who have changed places of residence to update their details on the voters roll to be eligible to vote.