South Africa gains 20 new wards as Demarcation Board finalises boundary report

The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) has increased the number of wards in South Africa by 20, rising from 4,468 in 2021 to 4,488 this year.

The board officially handed over its final report, which outlines the country's new ward and municipal boundary lines, to the Electoral Commission (IEC) today. The handover ceremony took place at the Irene Country Lodge in Centurion.

THE MANDATE AND AMENDMENTS
Every five years, prior to the Local Government Elections, the MDB examines and adjusts the country’s ward and municipal boundary lines.

So far, the board has amended 628 ward boundary lines. However, a number of outstanding amendments are still being challenged in court.

READ: MDB splits Free State Municipality to improve service delivery

MDB Chairperson, Thabo Manyoni, noted that factors such as natural disasters and migration patterns are key contributors that necessitate the amending of boundarylines.

"For example in KZN, they moved simply because of the disasters they were faced with and relocated themselves into other areas and of course as communities they don’t carry maps with them and you will find they are basically settling across ward boundaries and in that regard that’s where you will get a case of a bedroom being in another ward and the kitchen in another ward. So we have to come in there and technically work out the boundaries in such a manner that at least people are accommodated within a ward instead of having the same community but straddling across a number of wards."

Manyoni added that there is a possibility of more amendments to the boundaries depending on the utcomes of the court challenges.