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
Country	South Africa
Province	Mpumalanga
District	Gert Sibande
Seat	Secunda
Wards	32
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Thandi Ngxonono
Area
• Total	2,955 km^2 (1,141 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	294,538
• Density	100/km^2 (260/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	80.5%
• Coloured	1.5%
• Indian/Asian	1.5%
• White	16.0%
First languages (2011) [2]
• Zulu	47.4%
• Afrikaans	15.9%
• Southern Ndebele	7.7%
• Sotho	6.0%
• Other	23%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	MP307

Main places

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

Place	Code	Area (km^2)	Population	Most spoken language
Bethal	80701	101.50	8,512	Afrikaans
Brendan Village	80702	0.66	277	Afrikaans
Charl Cilliers	80703	1.58	210	Zulu
Eendrag	80704	1.85	293	Afrikaans
Embalenhle	80705	13.63	91,751	Zulu
eMzinoni	80706	5.19	31,012	Zulu
Evander	80707	40.15	8,212	Afrikaans
Highveld Ridge Mines	80709	71.84	325	Zulu
Kinross	80710	3.99	4,906	English
Leandra	80711	1.59	9	Zulu
Lebogang	80712	3.88	19,396	Zulu
Leslie	80713	2.08	761	Afrikaans
Leslie Gold Mines	80714	0.19	0	-
Mandela Section	80715	0.23	1,083	Xhosa
Milan Park	80716	1.74	4,760	Zulu
Secunda	80717	150.71	26,125	Afrikaans
Sorento Park	80718	0.95	12	Afrikaans/Zulu
Trichardt	80719	1.53	1,973	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality	80708	2,555.68	22,132	Zulu

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]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	ANC	43,198	43,441	86,639	57.0	26	10	36
	Democratic Alliance	18,504	17,910	36,414	23.9	6	9	15
	Economic Freedom Fighters	10,135	10,006	20,141	13.2	0	9	9
	Freedom Front Plus	1,951	1,677	3,628	2.4	0	2	2
	Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement	949	930	1,879	1.2	0	1	1
	Congress of the People	243	658	901	0.6	0	0	0
	Independent	627	–	627	0.4	0	–	0
	IFP	191	410	601	0.4	0	0	0
	African People's Convention	326	271	597	0.4	0	0	0
	Singukukhanya Kwezwe Christian Party	149	147	296	0.2	0	0	0
	African Peace Party	58	204	262	0.2	0	0	0
	Sindawonye Progressive Party	60	75	135	0.1	0	0	0
Total		76,391	75,729	152,120	100.0	32	31	63
Spoilt votes		1,179	1,229	2,408

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		Ward	PR list	Total
	ANC	27	10	37
	Democratic Alliance	5	9	14
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	9	9
	Freedom Front Plus	0	2	2
	Sakhisizwe Progressive Movement	0	1	1
Total		32	31	63

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.

External links

• Official website