Take the quizFind your voting station Check you’re registered
Election day Wed 4 Nov
Take the quiz

Who runs Waterberg?

M.J. Maeko (ANC) is (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) of Waterberg, as of 16 Oct 2026. In 2021, the ANC won 9 of the 14 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) voters choose directly in Waterberg. That is more than half.

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

Photo: Modimolle · JMK, CC BY-SA 4.0

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

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.).

Jack Maeko is executive mayor (a mayor who makes many of the council's decisions) 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.). Its final 2024/25 annual report, from October 2026, lists Maeko in the post. Maeko has held the post since mid-2024, after Morris Mataboge moved to the provincial legislature (the province's law-making body). Maeko was elected as an ANC (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) in 2021 and as ANC Waterberg regional chairperson in 2022. In 2021, the ANC won 9 of the 14 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) voters choose directly. We did not find the full make-up of the council.

What the sources said, by date

  1. As of 16 Oct 2026

    The Waterberg District Municipality's final 2024/25 annual report lists Cllr M.J. Maeko as Executive Mayor. It lists Cllr M.J. Gumede as Speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings). It lists Cllr M.B. Monare as Chief Whip (the councillor who organises (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) members for council votes).

  2. This was true then. Newer rows above may change it.

    As of 24 Feb 2026

    Cllr Jack Maeko is named as Waterberg District Executive Mayor at a CoGHSTA district outreach on 24 February 2026.

  3. As of 24 Jul 2022

    In July 2022 the ANC's Waterberg regional conference elected former Lephalale mayor Jack Maeko as regional chairperson.

  4. As of 9 Nov 2021

    Moloko Jack Maeko was elected to the Waterberg district council in 2021 as an ANC councillor. Maeko was number 3 on the ANC's 40% district list.

View sources (opens in a new tab)

How were the seats split?

Voters choose 14 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 8 of these 14 seats to win more than half of them. The ANC has 9, so it did.

  • ANC9
  • DA2
  • EFF2
  • FF+1

Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 8. That is more than half of the seats voters choose directly. Each party shows in its own colour.

View sources (opens in a new tab)

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 Waterberg district council a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.

This means its accounts and its reports on its work were right, and it followed the key laws.

Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026

In July 2026, the Minister of Cooperative Governance told Parliament that the intervention at the Waterberg district council is ongoing. It began in December 2025, under section 139(5) of the Constitution.

This means the province stepped in because the council was in a serious money crisis. The council must follow a plan to fix its finances (a financial recovery plan).

Department of Cooperative Governance, 3 July 2026

View sources (opens in a new tab)

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 quiz
See your ballot

Find 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

Spotted a mistake? Report a mistake. Every change is logged on the Corrections page.