Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about Lekwa come from
Every fact on the Lekwa page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
Which party controls the council?
Dated reports
As of 16 Oct 2026: Sifiso M. Mngomezulu is executive mayor.
Mpumalanga Provincial Government. Page is undated.
Where to look: Municipalities table (page 2 of 3), row 'Lekwa Local Municipality', column 'Executive mayor'. The table is undated (footer 'Copyright 2026'); it names mayors elected in late 2024, so it was updated no earlier than Nov 2024. Read 2026-10-16. Party not shown.
As of 11 Mar 2026: Sifiso Mngemezulu is executive mayor. The municipality spells the name this way.
Lekwa Local Municipality. Published 11 March 2026.
Where to look: article body, paragraph 5 (quote attributed to 'Cllr. Sifiso Mngemezulu, Executive Mayor')
As of 9 Feb 2026: S. Mngemezulu was executive mayor and P.C. Mahlaba was speaker, according to the 2024/25 annual report. M.R. Motloung was whip of council. The report's councillor list shows Michael Sifiso Mngomezulu as an ANC councillor in Ward 1. It shows Phindile Cynthia Mahlaba as an EFF PR councillor (a seat a party gets from its list, to match its share of the votes).
Lekwa Local Municipality. Published 9 February 2026.
Where to look: Chapter 2, 2.1 Political Governance, pp. 35-36 ('executive leadership ... comprised as follows'); Appendix A councillor table, entries 1 and 20 (appendix pages still headed 2023/2024)
As of 7 Jun 2025: Sifiso Mngemezulu is executive mayor of Lekwa.
South African Government. Published 7 June 2025.
Where to look: statement body: 'Cllr Sifiso Mngemezulu, Executive Mayor of Lekwa Local Municipality'
As of 26 Oct 2023: After a 25 October 2023 by-election (a vote to fill one empty ward seat), the council had 30 seats. The ANC had 13, the LCF 6, the DA 4, the EFF 3, FF Plus 2, an independent 1 and the ATM 1. The LCF held the post of mayor, with support from the DA, EFF and FF Plus. The DA had put forward a motion of no confidence (a council vote to remove the mayor or speaker) in the LCF mayor.
Daily Maverick. Published 26 October 2023.
Where to look: Lekwa (Gert Sibande) Ward 4 (Standerton Meyerville TLC) section, 'The new council composition for Lekwa is ...'
As of 22 Nov 2021: At the first council meeting after the 2021 election, LCF leader Louis Thabethe was elected mayor. Oliver Phiri (LCF) was elected speaker. The EFF's Dumisani Msibi became chief whip (the councillor who keeps a party's members voting together).
City Press. Published 22 November 2021.
Where to look: paragraphs 1-2: 'The Lekwa Community Forum (LCF) has taken both the mayorship and speaker positions' and 'The new mayor is LCF leader, Louis Thabethe'
As of 9 Nov 2021: Michael Sifiso Mngemezulu was elected as an ANC ward councillor for Ward 1 in Lekwa in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: MP305 - Lekwa rows, ward 83005001
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 30 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: p. 1 of 2, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). African National Congress: 13 (12 ward, 1 party). Lekwa Community Forum: 6 (0 ward, 6 party). Democratic Alliance: 4 (1 ward, 3 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 3 (0 ward, 3 party). Freedom Front Plus: 2 (1 ward, 1 party). African Transformation Movement: 1 (0 ward, 1 party).
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
The seats now
Who holds the 30 seats now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. How we count: This is our own count, not an official IEC table. We start with the 2021 party seats from the IEC. Then we add the party that last won each ward, in 2021 or in a by-election. Party seats stay with their party, and councillors can't switch parties. So only ward by-elections change these totals. An empty seat is counted with the party that last held it. The IEC lists by-elections on 5 Oct 2022, but it does not show who won them. So any ward that changed hands that day is not counted.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
What the official records say
Audit result
The Auditor-General gave Lekwa a qualified audit opinion for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: 'Audit outcome for 2024-25' box and the change from 2023-24 under it (audit of separate financial statements, finalised by 30 April 2026)
Government stepped in
In July 2026, the Minister of Cooperative Governance told Parliament that the intervention at Lekwa is ongoing. It began in April 2021, under section 139(7) of the Constitution.
Department of Cooperative Governance. Published 3 July 2026.
Where to look: reply (a), table of municipalities under intervention, 'Lekwa LM' row: type of intervention, date instituted, status Ongoing
In May 2025, Parliament's Budget Office described the recovery plan like this: "The municipality is still financially distressed but demonstrates full commitment to the implementation of the FRP."
Parliamentary Budget Office. Published 1 May 2025.
Where to look: p. 9, Table 1 'Active municipal interventions and their performance', 'Lekwa LM' row, FRP IMPLEMENTATION STATUS column
Doubt it can pay its bills
The Auditor-General found a going concern uncertainty at Lekwa in 2024-25, for the 10th year in a row.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: p. 50 (PDF page 54), 'Sixty-two municipalities with going concern uncertainty and consecutive years in this position', Mpumalanga, 'Lekwa LM' row; p. 49 explains the measure
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