The Northern Cape's electoral commission member, Elken Topken, tells OFM News that they are thrilled to see that many more independent candidates have registered as opposed to the 34 that registered during the 2016 elections. He says that they are expecting community members from across the Northern Cape to show up in their numbers to vote on 1 November.

"For the 2021 local government elections, the commission has experienced an influx in terms of candidates who want to contest these elections. So far we have an all-time high of 2 954 candidates who registered for this election. 

"Unfortunately, 105 candidates were disqualified. But just to come back to the influx, now we have 40 different political parties contesting at various levels within the province", says Topken.

He adds that 2016 and 2011 were less successful as compared to 2021, with the Northern Cape only having 11 political parties who contested and that number almost tripled this year.

“It is really an exceptional increase that the commission has experienced in terms of candidates who are contesting,” says Topken.

OFM News/Lee Simmons