A loophole in South African municipal electoral law allows parties to field the same candidate in multiple wards, inflating their vote totals and misleading voters. This practice, exemplified by Al Jama-ah in Johannesburg, has led to fragmented coalitions and unstable governance. Experts call for reforms to prevent such distortions ahead of future elections.
South African municipalities face ongoing challenges from a electoral loophole permitting a single candidate to contest multiple wards, with all votes counting toward their party's proportional representation (PR) seats. This system, criticized as a 'scam' and 'kind of fraud on the voters' by Dr Jean Redpath, a senior researcher at the Dullah Omar Institute, misleads voters who select candidates without knowing their divided commitments.
In the 2021 Johannesburg elections, Al Jama-ah fielded Imraan Ismail Moosa as its candidate in 114 of the city's 135 wards. Moosa won Ward 9 outright, securing one ward seat for the party. Combined with 9,961 ward votes and 7,647 PR votes, totaling 17,608 votes, Al Jama-ah earned three seats overall—one ward and two PR—despite the first-round quota of 6,794 votes allocating 255 of Johannesburg's 270 seats. Thapelo Amad and Kabelo Gwamanda, first and third on the PR list, became mayors, contributing to coalition instability.
Redpath argues this inflates party strength: without multiple candidacies, Al Jama-ah's votes might have dropped by about 2,314, yielding only two seats and potentially altering power balances. Moosa later vacated his ward for a parliamentary seat, triggering a by-election won by another party, underscoring voter preference for individuals over parties.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa deems the practice constitutional, but Redpath contends it overweight parties unfairly. Reforms could ban multiple candidacies or exclude extra-ward votes from PR calculations, reducing fragmentation before the next municipal elections. Johannesburg's 270 seats, split evenly between ward and PR, highlight how even marginal vote boosts via this method can sway outcomes in close races.