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In Ekurhuleni, the creation of a system of political representation and participation structures at the ward level was intended to enhance democratic participation. However, the paper hypothesizes that this can only be achieved if the population of the ward has a sense of belonging to it. All wards are socially and culturally diverse : how is this diversity dealt within the political sphere ? The paper argues that in some ways diversity is recognised, and given political space for expression, but that some identities are not accepted, and amongst these, the socio-spatial identifications internal to the wards and other scales inherited from the past are treated with ambivalence.