Thabazimbi political battle continues with the “election” of a new mayor, speaker by ANC-EFF coalition
The battle for political power at Thabazimbi local municipality in Limpopo has taken yet another turn with the “election” of a new mayor and speaker by the ANC-EFF coalition on Monday.
This comes days after the Limpopo cabinet took a decision to place the municipality under administration due to political instability since the entity became hung after the 2021 local government election.
The ANC lost control of the municipality in that election and the municipality was then governed by the DA-led coalition.
This was until the ANC in the region embarked on a political manoeuvre to oust DA’s Tokkie Swanepoel as mayor and speaker Butana Thlabadira. This led to continuous political instability and legal process which still persist today.
Swanepoel and Thlabadira were eventually reinstated by the order of the Polokwane High Court in March this year.
The ANC in the region lost the appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal, but it is understood it has now approached the Constitutional Court in defiance of the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) directive to cease legal challenges and accept the status quo.
On Monday, the ANC-EFF coalition held a “council meeting” in which ANC’s Judy Mohapi and EFF’s Orapeleng Selokela were elected as mayor and speaker respectively.
After the “meeting”, EFF provincial chairperson, Laurence Mapoulo, claimed that a letter to the municipality indicating the intention to place the entity under administration has been withdrawn.
When asked about the order that reinstated Swanepoel, Mapoulo said: “We are not afraid of any paper.”
However, cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs MEC, Basikopo Makamu, made it clear that the intention on the municipality still stand.
“That [withdrawal of the intention] is far from the truth,” Makamu said.
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