Which party controls the council?
Voters choose the (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.). The council chooses the (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.).
Phindiwe Philadelphia Maseko has been mayor of this (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.) since 20 May 2026, when she was elected with no other candidate. OFM still called her the Lejweleputswa mayor in July 2026. She replaced Veronica Ntakumbana. This was part of ANC-ordered leadership changes. The ANC suspended Maseko as a (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) member on 2 July 2026. No source we checked says whether this has changed who holds the mayor's office. OFM reports that the ANC holds a majority of (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) on the full council. In 2021, the ANC won 9 of the 16 seats voters choose directly. The (IEC The Electoral Commission of South Africa. It runs elections. It is independent, so it does not take orders from the government or any party.) 2021 results cover only those seats.
What the sources said, by date
As of 23 Jul 2026
The ANC in the Free State wrote a letter dated 2 July 2026. In it, the ANC put Lejweleputswa mayor Phindiwe Maseko on temporary suspension as a party member. The ANC calls her an ANC deployee. This is a person the party placed in the post. OFM reports on the Lejweleputswa district council. It says the ANC holds the majority of seats there.
This was true then. Newer rows above may change it.
As of 21 May 2026
Phindiwe Philadelphia Maseko was elected mayor of Lejweleputswa on 20 May 2026. No one else stood. The vote was at a special council meeting in Welkom. She took the place of Veronica Ntakumbana.
As of 1 Nov 2025
Veronica Ntakumbana was mayor of Lejweleputswa District Municipality in November 2025. The speaker was Daniel Jerence Dikane. The speaker is the (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) who runs council meetings.
As of 18 Sep 2025
IOL reported an ANC letter about Veronica Ntakumbana, mayor of Lejweleputswa District Municipality. The letter said she had not handed in a resignation as the party told her to. The ANC letter said she refused.
As of 22 Aug 2025
In August 2025 the ANC in the Free State spoke about these councils. It said it would redeploy their mayors, speakers and chief whips. To redeploy is to move someone to a different post. A chief whip is the councillor who keeps a party's members voting together. The councils are Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala, Masilonyana and Lejweleputswa.
How were the seats split?
Voters choose 16 of this (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.) (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) directly. The (Local municipality A municipality for a town or rural area outside the metros. There are 205.) send the other members. A (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) needs 9 of these 16 seats to win more than half of them. The ANC has 9, so it did.
- ANC9
- DA3
- EFF2
- Independent South African National Civic Organisation1
- FF+1
Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 9. That is more than half of the seats voters choose directly. Each party shows in its own colour. One party has no colour on record, so it is grey too.
What has the council done?
We have not checked any claims about this (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) yet. That is not a mark for or against it.
Core servicesWater, lights, rubbish and roads: what your council runs.No checks yet
Housing and landHouses, informal settlements and title deeds.No checks yet
Safety and jobsCrime, metro police and work in your area.No checks yet
Governance and moneyCorruption, audits and budgets: how your council uses your money.No checks yet
What the official records say
From the Auditor-General and the national government. Every council gets the same checks. A council that is not on a list shows no row.
The Auditor-General gave the Lejweleputswa district council an unqualified audit opinion with findings for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.
This means its accounts were right, but the Auditor-General found other problems, such as broken laws or weak reports on its work.
Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026
How does voting work here?
You can only vote at the (Voting station The place where you vote, often a school or a hall. You can only vote at the one where you are registered.) where you are (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.).
Pick what matters to you and see which parties promised it, with a link to where it said so.
Take the quizFind your town to see your (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.), your voting station and every name on your papers.
Or check with the IEC
- Who is my ward councillor now?IEC lookup. Shows your ward and who represents it now. (IEC website)
- Voting station finderIEC map. Find the station where you are registered. (IEC website)
Spotted a mistake? Report a mistake. Every change is logged on the Corrections page.