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.).
The (Municipality The local government for your area. It looks after local services, such as water, rubbish removal and local roads. There are 257.) website lists Franklin Vaughan Louw as mayor on its (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) page. The page has no date. Louw won Ward 2 in Prieska Bonteheuwel for the ANC in a by-election (a vote to fill one empty (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.) (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.)) on 13 May 2026. The ANC now holds 6 of the 11 seats. That is more than half. The same page lists Giel Macdonald of the ANC as speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings). We found no news report of the mayoral election. Until the by-election, an ANC-SCM (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.) (a group of (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) that run the council together) governed. Johan Andrew Phillips of the Siyathemba Community Movement (SCM) was mayor and Macdonald was speaker. In 2021, no party won more than half of the 11 seats. The ANC won 5.
What the sources said, by date
On the council's website, no date shown
Franklin Vaughan Louw, the Ward 2 councillor, is mayor, according to the municipality's councillors page. Giel Macdonald, the Ward 6 councillor, is speaker.
As of 14 May 2026
The ANC won Ward 2 in Prieska Bonteheuwel in a by-election (a vote to fill one empty ward seat) on 13 May 2026. It now holds 6 of the 11 seats. So it no longer needs a coalition with the Siyathemba Gemeenskap Beweging, or SGB.
As of 14 May 2026
Before the by-election, an ANC-SGB coalition governed the council. The SGB held the mayor's post and the ANC held the speaker's post.
This was true then. Newer rows above may change it.
As of 13 May 2026
Franklin Vaughan Louw won Siyathemba Ward 2 for the ANC in the by-election of 13 May 2026.
As of 12 May 2026
Johan Andrew Phillips of the Siyathemba Community Movement was mayor, the draft 2026/27 IDP (the council's development plan) says. The IDP is dated 12 May 2026, the day before the by-election. Phillips was a PR councillor (a seat a party gets from its list, to match its share of the votes). Giel Macdonald of the ANC, Ward 6, was speaker. The IDP shows the Ward 2 seat as empty.
How were the seats split?
Who holds the 11 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. A (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) needs 6 seats to run the (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) on its own. The ANC has 6, so it can choose the (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) and pass the budget on its own.
- ANC6
- Siyathemba Community Movement3
- DA2
Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 6. That is how many seats one party needs to run the council alone. 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 Siyathemba a qualified audit opinion for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.
This means some parts of its accounts had big mistakes, or it could not show proof for some amounts.
Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026
Where do I vote, and who is my ward councillor?
Siyathemba has 6 (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.). 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, 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)
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