Traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have ended their fight with the electoral commission and will now help register village voters before the upcoming local government elections, writes Celani Sikhakhane in Royals Mzansi.
Traditional leaders have ended their fight with the Independent Electoral Commission and will help register voters in their villages.
This comes after senior election officials met King Misuzulu kaZwelithini in northern KwaZulu-Natal to talk about plans for the November local government elections.
Headmen clashed with the commission before the 2021 elections. They stopped election staff from working in villages.
The headmen were angry because the KwaZulu-Natal government owed them over R2-billion in back pay.
Former president Jacob Zuma said in 2014 that the headmen must get paid, but budget problems caused long delays. The headmen took out their anger on election workers.
Now, they are ready to work together.
Induna Zwelisha Mabaso told election officials in Utrecht that it is time for headmen to make sure all village residents register to vote.
“This might help to speed up the registration process ahead of the upcoming elections and to allow all villagers to be registered,” Mabaso said.
“We hear that most people on rural areas does not register in numbers which affect the municipal budget after elections as it is allocated according to the number of people who have registered to vote in our villages,” he said.
King Misuzulu met the commission at the eMashobeni Royal Palace last month.
He backed the commission and promised to encourage people, especially the youth, to register and vote.
Villages hold large numbers of voters, making them very important for the upcoming elections.
Pictured above: IEC senior leadership met King Misuzulu before the November local government elections.
Image source: Zulu Royal Kingdom
