Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about Senqu come from
Every fact on the Senqu 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
On the council's website, no date shown: Councillor V.V. Stokhwe is mayor of Senqu. The council page lists 24 ANC councillors besides the mayor. It also lists 4 EFF, 2 SCA and 1 each for the UDM, the DA and the PAC.
Senqu Local Municipality. Page is undated.
Where to look: Councillors page, leadership (Mayor, Speaker, Chief Whip) and councillor list with party labels; footer (c) 2024
As of 8 Jun 2026: Councillor V. Stokhwe is mayor of Senqu, according to the mayor's foreword in the final 2026/27 IDP.
Senqu Local Municipality. Published 8 June 2026.
Where to look: p. 7, Mayor's foreword signature ('Cllr V. Stokwe – Mayor', spelled so in the source). Date = PDF creation date; uploaded 11 Jun 2026
As of 5 Feb 2026: Velile Victor Stokhwe was mayor of Senqu throughout 2024/25, according to the final 2024/25 annual report.
Senqu Local Municipality. Published 5 February 2026.
Where to look: p. 32 ('Mayor - Velile Stokhwe'); p. 223 Appendix A ('VELILE VICTOR STOKHWE, FT, MAYOR, PR'); p. 271 AFS general information ('Mayor VV Stokhwe'). Date = PDF creation date; uploaded 1 Apr 2026
As of 9 Nov 2021: Velile Victor Stokhwe was elected to the Senqu 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, EC142 - Senqu, AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PR(1), STOKHWE VELILE VICTOR, seat type LC PR
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 34 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: p. 2 of 2, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). African National Congress: 25 (17 ward, 8 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 4 (0 ward, 4 party). Sterkspruit Civic Association: 2 (0 ward, 2 party). Democratic Alliance: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Pan Africanist Congress of Azania: 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 34 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 Senqu a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) 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)
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