Battles loom for George, Mangaung in coming round of by-elections

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Important battles will be fought in the George municipality and the Mangaung metro council, both of which have multiple wards up for grabs in the round of 11 by-elections on 19 July.

In March, 11 of the ANC’s councillors in Mangaung voted for Maryke Davies, the Democratic Alliance (DA) candidate for speaker of the municipality, dumping their party’s choice for the post, Bongani Mathea.

Although the ANC won the metro outright in 2021, fighting in the party, which recently expelled former secretary general Ace Magashule, saw the rebellion by its councillors — the second in two years — cost it the speaker’s position.

In a crackdown on the rebel councillors, the ANC removed eight of its councillors, including former deputy mayor Paseka Mothibi-Nkoane and Stefani Lockman-Naidoo, the former speaker, who had failed to “show remorse” for the actions.

This sparked the by-elections, with four wards — Bloemfontein, Thaba Nchu, Botshabelo and Wepener — being contested in the ailing municipality, which currently has an acting mayor because of the recall of Mxolisi Siyonzana in January.

Former ANC councillors Lelala Makoa (ward 50) and Lehlohonolo Moqolo (ward 49), Mpho Mokoena (ward 29) and Frank Ramphai (ward 7) are expected to stand as independents against their former party. The final list of candidates will be released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa later this week.

The outcome will be a clear indication of the effect of the firing of Magashule, who served several terms as Free State ANC chairperson and premier, and whose expulsion from the party has sparked some local-level protests.

Ramphai, who had served as an ANC councillor since 2016, said the four rebels had “no choice” but to stand as independents after the governing party refused to reinstate them.

“We tried everything to convince the party to follow procedure, but they seemed to be adamant with the expulsion,” he said. “We decided to stand as independent councillors as we had no other choice.”

“Other parties did try and convince us to join them, but we took a decision not to because we don’t want to divide our voters.”

Ramphai denied that he and his fellow independent candidates were linked to Magashule. “That’s not true. People are saying that, and that we are going to join Magashule’s party. We won’t do that. We are not supporting anybody.”

Ramphai said the municipality was “a real mess” and needed skilled councillors who were elected on the basis of ability, and not because of popularity in a particular party.

“We don’t agree with the way the municipality is being run. There is a lack of skills and a serious problem of corruption and maladministration. In 2021 we campaigned on an anti-corruption manifesto in Mangaung, but as soon as we started trying to do something about it, that’s when we started being accused of things,” he said.

In George, one of the Western Cape’s hung councils, three wards were made vacant by the resignation of Good party councillors who left for the DA earlier this year.

One of the councillors, Richard Hector, withdrew his resignation but, despite a court battle, his ward will also be contested. Neville Louw and Theresa Jeyi, who resigned shortly after Hector, are standing as DA candidates in their wards.

Good campaign manager Grant Pascoe said the party would field proportional representation councillor Rosa Louw in ward 20 and Elsa Esau for ward 16.

He said the party was confident that it would retain the wards. “For too long DA and FF+ [Freedom Front Plus] overlords have dictated the lives of residents, but the people have woken up. They voted for Good in 2021, and they’ll vote for Good again in 2023.” 

In the Eastern Cape, ward 5 in the Senqu local municipality, in which the sitting ANC councillor died, will be a two-way fight between the governing party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The ANC will field Ntombovuyo Sebatana against the EFF’s Ncediwe Sinxadi for the ward, which is located in Lady Grey.

In KwaZulu-Natal, ward 6 in Mthonjaneni local municipality, is up for grabs after the ANC councillor, Sabelo Mnguni, resigned when the party withdrew his bodyguards. The municipality is run by Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and is heavily contested. The ward will see a four way fight between the ANC, EFF, IFP and independent candidate Sphamandla Luthuli.

In Nkandla, a hung municipality run by the IFP and its local allies, ward two will be contested by the ANC, EFF and IFP.

In recent by-elections in KwaZulu-Natal, the DA and IFP have fielded a single candidate between them, winning them control of several wards in the eThekwini metro since they adopted the strategy.