Coin toss decides ward: SACP wins Middelburg seat after 966-966 tie

A coin toss has decided who represents Ward 17 in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality (Middelburg, Mpumalanga). The ANC and the SACP each received 966 votes on the ward ballot, and the SACP won the toss and the seat (ESP Ward 17 results from IEC data; SABC News video).

SABC News posted video of the toss on Saturday, 7 November, at about 12:30, saying the coin decided that the ward was won by the SACP (SABC News on X).

The Ward 17 result

Source: ESP, from IEC data

There were 2,976 valid votes on the ward ballot. Turnout was 51.2% of the 5,939 registered voters, and all three voting districts were counted. The SACP led in two of them (the tents at Newtown Clinic and Newtown Proper) and the ANC led in the third (ESP).

The SACP's ward candidate was Marumo Jim Sekgwele and the ANC's was Sarah Selahle (ESP candidate list). Sekgwele won this ward for the ANC in 2021, when the ANC took 64.9% of the ward vote (Inkmark Ward 17).

Why a coin toss is legal

The Municipal Structures Act says the candidate with the most votes in a ward is elected, and if two or more candidates get the same number of votes, the result is "determined by lot". The IEC has described a coin toss as standard practice for this (Moneyweb, quoting the IEC; Municipal Structures Act).

It has happened before. In Mutale in Limpopo in 2011, an ANC candidate and an independent candidate each got 823 votes, and a coin toss decided the ward (Moneyweb).

The other tie: Buffalo City Ward 15

A second tie this week went differently. In Buffalo City Ward 15 (which includes Nompumelelo and Abbotsford in East London), the DA and EFF were reported tied on 1,714 votes each. The EFF objected to a coin toss on Friday, 6 November, and asked for a recount, including the spoilt ballots, and the IEC suspended the toss (SABC News; The South African).

The IEC's figures for the ward have since changed. They now show the EFF ahead with 1,753 votes, the DA on 1,722 and the ANC on 1,705, with the EFF's Songezo Nkungwini listed as the elected ward councillor (ESP Ward 15 results from IEC data).

Sources: The South African, ESP

What the Ward 17 result means for Steve Tshwete

Steve Tshwete is one of this year's hung councils. On provisional figures the DA leads the vote with 39,458 combined ward and PR votes and the ANC has 33,469, and any governing bloc needs 30 of the 58 seats to elect a mayor (Middelburg Observer; Mandate SA).

Ward seats count towards a party's total share of seats rather than adding to it, because PR seats are used to top parties up to their overall share. So one ward going to the SACP mainly changes who the ward councillor is, while the SACP's overall seat total is set by its share of the vote (IEC seat calculation explainer on X).

When results become official

All figures here are provisional. The IEC says it will announce the final results and seat allocations on Sunday, 8 November, at 17:30, and the official results must be published in the Government Gazette by 11 November (Inside Politics; IOL). You can check any ward on the IEC results site.