Govan Mbeki Local Municipality

Govan Mbeki Local Municipality (formerly Highveld East Local Municipality) is a South African local municipality situated in the Gert Sibande District Municipality, of Mpumalanga. Secunda is the seat of the municipality.

Govan Mbeki
Local municipality
Seal
Location in Mpumalanga
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceMpumalanga
DistrictGert Sibande
SeatSecunda
Wards32
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorThandi Ngxonono
Area
 • Total2,955 km2 (1,141 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total294,538
 • Density100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African80.5%
 • Coloured1.5%
 • Indian/Asian1.5%
 • White16.0%
First languages (2011)
 • Zulu47.4%
 • Afrikaans15.9%
 • Southern Ndebele7.7%
 • Sotho6.0%
 • Other23%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeMP307

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[3]

PlaceCodeArea (km2)PopulationMost spoken language
Bethal80701101.508,512Afrikaans
Brendan Village807020.66277Afrikaans
Charl Cilliers807031.58210Zulu
Eendrag807041.85293Afrikaans
Embalenhle8070513.6391,751Zulu
eMzinoni807065.1931,012Zulu
Evander8070740.158,212Afrikaans
Highveld Ridge Mines8070971.84325Zulu
Kinross807103.994,906English
Leandra807111.599Zulu
Lebogang807123.8819,396Zulu
Leslie807132.08761Afrikaans
Leslie Gold Mines807140.190-
Mandela Section807150.231,083Xhosa
Milan Park807161.744,760Zulu
Secunda80717150.7126,125Afrikaans
Sorento Park807180.9512Afrikaans/Zulu
Trichardt807191.531,973Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality807082,555.6822,132Zulu

Politics

The municipal council consists of sixty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-two wards, while the remaining thirty-one are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirty-six seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[4][5]

PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal%WardListTotal
ANC 43,19843,44186,63957.0261036
Democratic Alliance 18,50417,91036,41423.96915
Economic Freedom Fighters 10,13510,00620,14113.2099
Freedom Front Plus 1,9511,6773,6282.4022
Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement 9499301,8791.2011
Congress of the People 2436589010.6000
Independent 627–6270.40–0
IFP 1914106010.4000
African People's Convention 3262715970.4000
Singukukhanya Kwezwe Christian Party 1491472960.2000
African Peace Party 582042620.2000
Sindawonye Progressive Party 60751350.1000
Total 76,39175,729152,120100.0323163
Spoilt votes 1,1791,2292,408

In a by-election held on 9 October 2019, a ward previously held by a DA councillor was won by the ANC candidate.[6] The council was reconfigured as seen below:

Party WardPR listTotal
ANC 271037
Democratic Alliance 5914
Economic Freedom Fighters 099
Freedom Front Plus 022
Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement 011
Total 323163

Corruption

After allegations of endemic corruption a forensic investigation was launched by the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG). The Section 106 forensic investigation report released in 2020 revealed extensive political interference in its administration.[7] The report revealed non-implementation of council resolutions, abuse of municipal property and assets, advertisement of tenders without following legislation and awarding of bursaries without following procedures. Senior positions were occupied by politically affiliated persons who lacked the minimum required qualifications or even a matric certificate. In addition several companies that got preferential treatment had senior politicians on their payroll. The senior politician and executive mayor, Ms Thandi Ngxonono, was implicated in the report and took special leave.[7]

References
  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  4. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Govan Mbeki" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  5. "Seat Calculation Detail: Govan Mbeki" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  6. Sussman, Wayne (10 October 2019). "Tough night in Mpumalanga for the DA". The Daily Maverick. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  7. Mathebula, Sifiso (30 October 2020). "Locals want Hawks to make arrests". ridgetimes.co.za. Ridge Times Hoëvelder / Highvelder. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

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