Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about Mangaung come from
Every fact on the Mangaung page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
Who is the mayor, and which parties run the council?
Gregory Nthatisi (ANC)
Mayor from 25 Apr 2023 to now. Parties running the council: ANC.
OFM. Published 26 April 2023.
Where to look: Paragraphs 1-2 (ANC councillor Gregory Nthatisi elected acting executive mayor after the High Court interdicted AASD president Papi Mokoena); paragraph 9 (council sat on Tuesday 25 April 2023)
The Citizen. Published 26 April 2023.
Where to look: Paragraph 3 (elected acting mayor with 50 of the 93 votes cast in a secret ballot at a special council sitting); paragraph 2 (court interdict set aside Mokoena's election)
BloemNews Express. Published 26 October 2023.
Where to look: Article body paragraph 1 ('The ANC is back in the troika positions in the Mangaung Metro after an election held on Friday, 13 October'); paragraph 2 ('The newly-elected executive mayor, Gregory Nthatisi')
OFM. Published 24 October 2025.
Where to look: Paragraph 8 ('Nthatisi, who was elected as mayor in 2023 with the support of the ANC and its coalition partners, including the African Transformation Movement')
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Published 29 January 2026.
Where to look: Printed page 11 (PDF page 16), section on political governance: '1) Executive Mayor: Councillor Gregory Mosala Solomon Nthatisi'
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 28 April 2026.
Where to look: Slide 8 (PDF page 8), 'Insights on national intervention': provincial administration under section 139(5) from 1 January 2020 to 25 April 2022, national intervention under section 139(7) from 26 April 2022; still in the rescue phase of the financial recovery plan at 30 June 2025
Mxolisi Siyonzana (ANC)
Mayor from 22 Nov 2021 to 6 Mar 2023. Parties running the council: ANC.
OFM. Published 22 November 2021.
Where to look: Byline 'Mon, 22 Nov 2021'; paragraph 1 ('The former mayor ... Mxolisi Siyonzana, has been re-elected as the mayor of the metro'); paragraph 2 (56 votes, DA's Johan Pretorius 29, AASD's Papi Mokoena 15); paragraph 4 (the ANC 'retained the metro with a margin of 50,63% and this gave them 51 seats in the council')
SABC News. Published 22 November 2021.
Where to look: Paragraph 1 (Siyonzana re-elected, 56 votes to 29 and 15); paragraph 2 ('All 101 councillors of the newly-composed Mangaung Metro council have been sworn in'); paragraph 3 (ANC won an outright majority with 51 percent). Date from the page's published time (22 Nov 2021).
OFM. Published 6 March 2023.
Where to look: Paragraph 1 (Speaker announced the resignation of Mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana on Monday 6 March 2023); paragraphs 13-14 (the ANC PEC resolved to redeploy him)
OFM. Published 14 April 2023.
Where to look: Byline 'Fri, 14 Apr 2023'; paragraph 1 (AASD president Papi Mokoena elected executive mayor); paragraph 3 (some ANC members, including mayoral candidate Gregory Nthatisi, boycotted the sitting on Friday 14 April 2023); paragraph 10 (the vacancy followed Siyonzana's resignation after his redeployment by the ANC PEC)
OFM. Published 26 April 2023.
Where to look: Paragraph 2 (a High Court judge interdicted AASD president Papi Mokoena 'from executing his duties as the mayor')
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 28 April 2026.
Where to look: Slide 8 (PDF page 8), 'Insights on national intervention': provincial administration under section 139(5) from 1 January 2020 to 25 April 2022, national intervention under section 139(7) from 26 April 2022; still in the rescue phase of the financial recovery plan at 30 June 2025
Dated reports
On the council's website, no date shown: Executive mayor Gregory Nthatisi gave a State of the City and 2025/26 budget address. In it he thanked 'my party the African National Congress (ANC)'.
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Page is undated.
Where to look: cover page and 'Introduction', paragraph beginning 'For this, I would like to express my gratitude'; undated address for the 2025/26 budget, file posted January 2026, read 18 Oct 2026
As of 7 Jul 2026: Gregory Nthatisi is executive mayor of Mangaung. Lulama Titi-Odili is deputy executive mayor. Bongani Lawrence Mathae is speaker. Vumile Nikelo is council whip. The whip is the councillor who keeps a party's members voting together. The council has 101 seats. The ANC has 51, the DA 26, the EFF 12 and FF Plus 5. AASD and PA have 2 each. AIC, ACDP and ATM have 1 each.
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Published 7 July 2026.
Where to look: Section 2.1.1 'Political Structure of MMM' and Table 4 'Political Parties Represented in the Council' (p. 20-21); published on mangaung.co.za on 7 Jul 2026
As of 7 Jul 2026: The municipality is under intervention, the 2024/25 annual report states. The report names Section 139(7) of the Constitution.
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. Published 7 July 2026.
Where to look: Chapter 3 text: 'since the Municipality is under intervention of Section 139 (7) of the Constitution'
As of 1 Nov 2025: Gregory Nthatisi was mayor of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in November 2025. The speaker was Bongani Lawrence Mathae. The speaker is the councillor who runs council meetings.
Free State COGTA. Page is undated.
Where to look: Mangaung row: Mayor/Executive Mayor 'Gregory Mosala Solomon Nthatisi', Speaker 'Bongani Lawrence Mathae'; header 'NOVEMBER 2025' (no day given)
As of 26 Apr 2023: On 25 April 2023, the council elected Gregory Nthatisi as acting executive mayor of Mangaung. Acting means standing in for now. Nthatisi is an ANC councillor. Before that, the council had elected Papi Mokoena mayor. Mokoena is the AASD president. Then a High Court judge interdicted Mokoena from doing his duties. To interdict is to stop someone by a court order.
OFM. Published 26 April 2023.
Where to look: paragraphs 1-2 and 6 (council sitting of 25 April 2023)
As of 26 Apr 2023: Nthatisi was elected acting mayor with 50 of 93 votes cast in a secret ballot. This came after a court gave the ANC an urgent court order that cancelled Papi Mokoena's election as mayor.
The Citizen. Published 26 April 2023.
Where to look: standfirst and paragraphs 2-3
As of 7 Apr 2022: In April 2022 Mangaung was placed under national government intervention. This was under Section 139(7) of the Constitution.
OFM. Published 7 April 2022.
Where to look: paragraphs 1-3
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 101 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: pp. 3-4 of 4, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). African National Congress: 51 (40 ward, 11 party). Democratic Alliance: 26 (11 ward, 15 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 12 (0 ward, 12 party). Freedom Front Plus: 5 (0 ward, 5 party). Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). Patriotic Alliance: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). African Christian Democratic Party: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). African Independent Congress: 1 (0 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 101 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 Mangaung 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 Mangaung is ongoing. It began in April 2022, 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, 'Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality' row: type of intervention, date instituted, status Ongoing
In May 2025, Parliament's Budget Office described the recovery plan like this: "FRP under implementation"
Parliamentary Budget Office. Published 1 May 2025.
Where to look: p. 9, Table 1 'Active municipal interventions and their performance', 'Mangaung' row, FRP IMPLEMENTATION STATUS column
Doubt it can pay its bills
The Auditor-General found a going concern uncertainty at Mangaung in 2024-25, for the ninth 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', Free State, 'Mangaung MM' row; p. 49 explains the measure
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