Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about Matatiele come from
Every fact on the Matatiele 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 22 Jul 2026: Councillor Motlalepula Patrick Stuurman is mayor of Matatiele.
Matatiele Local Municipality. Published 22 July 2026.
Where to look: Office of the Mayor page, name heading (published 2024-12-17, last modified 2026-07-22)
As of 3 Jun 2026: A Matatiele municipal notice of 3 June 2026 says Mayor Patrick Motlalepula Stuurman will give the 2026 State of the Municipal Address.
Matatiele Local Municipality. Published 3 June 2026.
Where to look: post dated 3 June 2026 ('Mayor Patrick Motlalepula Stuurman to deliver SOMA 2026')
As of 9 Nov 2021: Patrick Motlalepula Stuurman was elected to the Matatiele council as an ANC PR councillor in 2021. A PR councillor has a seat that the party gets from its list, to match its share of the votes.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: Eastern Cape, EC441 - Matatiele, AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PR(7), STUURMAN PATRICK MOTLALEPULA, seat type LC PR
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 54 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: p. 3 of 3, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). African National Congress: 40 (27 ward, 13 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 7 (0 ward, 7 party). Democratic Alliance: 3 (0 ward, 3 party). African Independent Congress: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). African Transformation Movement: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). United Democratic 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 54 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 Matatiele 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)
Nothing matches. Try another word.